DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…

DHS English teachers Ms. Ayoka Shakir and Ms. Nora Bergman organized an excellent field trip for 9th grade students this afternoon at the Decatur Library. Students were able to listen to Maggie Stiefvater, author of the teen best seller, Shiver. Ms. Stiefvater talked about setting goals, read a passage from Shiver, and answered questions. A member of the audience asked her what she would do differently if she could re-do her 9th grade year in high school. Surprisingly, she told students that she was home-schooled until the 8th grade, skipped high school entirely, and entered college as a fifteen year old. Wow!

Introducing Ms. Stiefvater was Ms. Terra Elan McVoy, author of the highly acclaimed teen novel, Pure.

Ms. Ayoka Shakir, Ms. Nora Bergman, Maggie Stiefvater (author of Shiver) and Terra Elan McVoy (author of Pure, a novel set in and around the City of Decatur) are shown in one of the attachments.