Students from Brownwood Intermediate School, along with Ms. Carol Gilbreth and Mrs. Christine, recently traveled to San Angelo where they met the author, Bruce Hale. Mr. Hale writes children’s books with intriguing titles such as “The Malted Falcon” starring intrepid characters like “Chet Gecko”.

Mr. Hale spoke to all those present about important writing skills and techniques. He emphasized the need to go through the writing process saying, “Be an artist first, be an editor second” when beginning any rough draft.  Mr. Hale also demonstrated some simple techniques students can use for their own illustrations.  Finally, each child began a story and Mr. Hale was seen often reading their work and offering words of praise and advice. There was a great deal of laughter and excitement as Mr. Hale donned the many hats (and voices) of a writer/illustrator.

After lunch, the students went on a geocaching activity that required each team to use a hand-held GPS to find questions to answer about the book they read. Following this exciting event, Mr. Hale summed up his conversation with the students by saying, “You are all storytellers, and the world needs your stories.  So keep writing and keep telling.”

The students are pictured above with Mr. Hale during their trip.