Author, Erik Olsen, Visits Barnett Elementary

Submitted by beth.knudsen on

On Friday, November 16, Erik Olsen, author of the Flin's Destiny series, visited the third through sixth graders at Barnett Elementary.  Olsen had the students' attention right away with his slideshow of drawings from his books, laser pointer light show, and telling them the story behind his stories--how he got his inspiration for the Flin's Destiny books.  As reported on his website: After having one of the world’s craziest dreams, he began writing a series of five books detailing it, called Flin’s Destiny, which is full of continuous action and adventure deep in the earth and keeps you wanting more."  

His main character, Flin, has a relatively normal life until his thirteenth birthday when, according to family tradition, he gets a ring.  As he pulls the ring from the green sack sparks emit from the bag and his life is never the same after that.  Olsen encouraged the students to read and write and told them how that will change their lives and allow them to get jobs when they grow up.  He also talked about the importance of having a really good idea and that even though it is really hard to write, if you have a good idea, you'll be so excited to write about that it that even though it takes a while and a lot of revision, it'll be fun and worth it.  

Students were able to participate in several different ways.  Two students, Jace Hancock and Maddie Bunker, were chosen to sit at the front of the lunchroom since their birthdays were that day or the next.  Also, one student from each class was chosen to help tell a story orally in response to a story start that Olsen gave.  Finally, at the end, several students were selected to come forward and try to find the "magic ring" in his green sack. If they chose the magic ring they won a free copy of his first book.  The Barnett students are grateful for the chance for a real, published author to come to our school.

Attributions
Beth Knudsen