Fantastic, Enthusiastic, Scholastic!

This week, I made a big announcement on my Facebook account:

after much, much searching, I finally found a job. And it’s something that’ got me incredibly. Starting tomorrow, I will be a Literacy Consultant for Scholastic. That’s right- Scholastic.

For someone who grew up loving book fairs with every thumping valve of my tiny heart, this is about the coolest thing that could happen to me. And the fact that it pays- that it’s a job where I can get an income and wear fancy businessperson clothes – it’s just too good to be true. Except it’s true.

Scholastic is rolling out a brand spankin’ new program called Booktalking. Book Talks are a very simple concept that’s already popular in many classrooms: students choose books, read them, and spend a couple of minutes piquing the interest of classmates. Part of the fun is making the presentation your own- playing your guitar, acting out a scene, rapping- whatever feels natural and gets the class involved. So it’s an incredibly simple concept. Almost simple enough to leave me without a job yet again. But not quite.

Initially, I’ll be working directly with students in the Philadelphia area, using three or four test schools to do eight-week Booktalking workshops. I’ll learn as much as possible from those schools and turn that information into a usable plan for future students. By September of 2012, we’ll have materials together to promote Booktalking through all of Scholastic’s amazing resources.

Perhaps the coolest thing about this job is the fact that I have all the resources of a Fortune 1000 company, but I’m doing an outreach program that makes me truly proud. It’s a pretty phenomenal combination.

Today is my first day of work- I’ll be soaking up the sun in Orlando while I meet the Scholastic family. But as gorgeous as it is there, I’ll be looking forward to coming home- I’ve got work to do!