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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
Middle school: Where dreams are made
If you ever really dreamed of doing something, chances are that dream was born somewhere around the middle school grades. It’s in those grades, stretching maybe into the range of fourth to ninth grade, when important things begin to happen. First, you begin to get a sense for the things you are good at. Also, you probably become deeply interested in something for the first time, whether it’s ballet or basketball, astronomy or art.
Middle school is when we take our first steps toward physical an emotional maturity. And many times, it’s when you come across somebody inspiring who opens up possibilities in your mind. Often, that person is a teacher.
As I spoke earlier this week with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney I thought about this.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the culmination of a long running dream for Kinney. It is the story of Greg Heffley, written and doodled in the voice and hand of a young boy on lined notebook-style paper, as he navigates the backstreets and alley ways of middle school.
In our interview Kinney described for me his favorite memory from school. It was of a fifth grade teacher who encouraged students to develop their senses of humor and pushed them to go for “quality laughs.” Kinney believes Mrs. Norton, the teacher, sparked his interest in humor.
By college, Kinney was writing a popular cartoon in the student paper and dreaming of a career working for a newspaper. There was just a little problem. After college, nobody would hire him. Editors thought his artwork was too amateurish. So he got a regular job working at on a Web site and tried to transform his ideas into a graphic novel.
Kinney began keeping two journals — a personal diary that was a mix of drawings and short entries and an idea pad where he wrote or sketched out ideas. In all, it was nine years he worked on his ideas and kept the dream alive. Well past the point where others would have given up and resigned themselves to a life of Internet back-shopping, things finally came together for Kinney.
He had his eureka moment. What if the novel were written from the perspective of a child? What if he copied the format of his personal diary — drawings and short entries — and wrote from the perspective of a middle school boy? Then the artwork would be just what you would expect from a boy and the story could make use of the many humor possibilities of the middle school setting.
So Kinney invented Greg Heffley. About that time a graphic novel called “Mom’s Cancer” by Brian Fies became a hit. It was noted for using a “cartoon” format to capture the real story of Fies’ mother and her battle with cancer.
It seems like every story of a dream come true has a moment of tremendous good fortune. For Kinney, it was running into the acquiring editor for the publishing company that had printed “Mom’s Cancer” at a convention where the editor was on the lookout for other innovative writers of graphic novels. He took one look at Diary of a Wimpy Kid and told Kinney it was perfect.
The lessons of Kinney’s experience? Pay attention middle schoolers.
When you’re young and you fall in love with doing something — like making people laugh — commit yourself to making it a permanent part of your life, no matter what happens. When you think you have your dream job figured out — like cartooning for a newspaper — stay flexible. It may turn out the perfect job is different than you expect.
And no matter what, keep working on your craft, polishing your skills, trying out new ideas and learning from everyone around you. A best-selling book may not be your destiny, but the rewards of doing something you love will pay off one way or another.
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