Her teachers always thought of her as quiet. Attentive, engaged but quiet. Sam Schomer was the sort of student who sat in class, spoke up once or twice a year, never caused problems. Then she gave her WISE presentation – not just the usual presentation but a model presentation.

Of course the fact that she had been chosen to give the model presentation signaled that something more than the usual fine Rondout Valley High School project was involved here. The honor of such a presentation is bestowed only on students who have been model WISE students themselves, on top of their project from day one and able to display in their model presentation early in the senior spring just what a WISE project should be. Still her teachers, who expected a fine, competent, presentation, found themselves not simply satisfied by what they saw and heard—they were, in fact, amazed.

Creating a Children’s Book                                                                                             Sam showed how she had created and completed a wonderful project,
how she found and projected her voice with writing and illustrating a children’s book. She also left the safe environment of the school behind her to do so, going out into the adult world around her, interviewing children’s book illustrators, collaborating with local authors and internalizing, then using, everything she learned by so doing in her book, Doggie Goes to School. She capped all this off with her model presentation where she was able to speak, articulately, about the writing, illustrating and publishing process.

A First Step in the Journey                                                                                         Anyone who knows anything about WISE knows that a WISE presentation never marks the end of something, merely the next step in the journey that begins with WISE. And Sam’s presentation, and project, exceptional as it was, is no exception. Sam has just begun to grow as an author. Her first draft of the book may be complete but she is now engaged in revising, in the writing (and re-writing) and drawing (and redrawing) process. And she is getting introduced to the realities of the writer’s world. She will soon be contacting a literary agent with the goal of finding a publisher for her book sometime in the future.

Formulating goals, articulating them, interviewing others, collaborating with others, writing and drawing and following through on her plans…all these are crucial skills – 21^st century skills – in action!! Sam showed everyone in her model presentation precisely how this is done.