Author visits FYS students

By Josh Holderbaum
Western Herald

Students participating in the First-Year Seminar’s Common-Read Program will be able to meet the face behind one of the books that hangs on their to-read list this Wednesday.

Sharon Draper, author of “Battle of Jericho,” will discuss her book Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. in the West Ballroom of the Bernhard Center.

“Battle of Jericho” is on the FYS Common-Read Program’s reading list.

“Common-Read Programs are done in a number of schools across the country,” said Director of First-Year Experience Programs, Toni Woolfork-Barnes, Ph.D. “It begins to engage students in both education and the social aspect of college. We’re focused on not trying to say, be good just for this year, but throughout your time at college.”

The fairly new program counts as a credit for incoming students.

“This is the third year for the Common-Read Program and we have 59 sections with 1,300 students,” Barnes said. “Our theme this year is ‘purpose,’ so the books we’re reading deal with diversity and tolerance.”
Jodi Piccoult’s “My Sister’s Keeper,” Carol Plum-Ucci’s “The Body of Christopher Creed,” and Markus Zuzak’s “I Am the Messenger,” are the other Common-Read Books this year.

“All of our books were picked through the Common-Read committee, made up of instructors who teach the seminars,” Barnes said. “Most schools only pick one Common-Read book, but we got excited and picked four.”

While First-Year 2100 is only open to incoming students, Barnes invites everyone to attend Draper’s visit.
Draper is a five-time Coretta Scott King Book Award winner as well as National Teacher of the Year.
Bill Davis, Assistant Professor of Art, Photography and Visual Arts and former student of Draper, couldn’t believe the president honored his teacher.

“In 1997, when I came home from living in Europe, I was in my parent’s living room and I heard President Clinton announce ‘Draper Paper’ on the television,” said Davis. “I dropped everything, ran to the set and there was my teacher in front of the nation receiving the highest honor an educator can receive. It was surreal and exciting.”

This year’s Common-Read list inspired Davis to contact his former teacher.

“When I saw her name on the book [list]the FYS program was reading I began to play the part of the maven and started to connect the dots between her, myself, WMU and Kalamazoo. Dr. Toni Barnes was very helpful in facilitating her visit,” said Davis.

Davis had Draper for English at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1987 to 1988.

“I remember walking out of her class and feeling better,” Davis said. “That is hard for a 17-year-old but she and a few other teachers at Walnut Hills made a difference.”

Draper was known for her “Draper Papers,” which were mentioned by Clinton.

“It included 100 citations,” Davis said. “It was very challenging. I publish research that does not even come close to that these days.”

Davis hopes Draper will make quite an impact on the audience Wednesday.

“I hope they see her as a role model, as a real person making real change for real students,” Davis said.
The First-Year Seminar, First-Year 2100, hosts Draper’s visit.

The Kalamazoo Public Library, Hillsdale Middle School, Millwood Magnet School and Kalamazoo Juvenile Home also collaborated for the event.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 30 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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