Secrets of a Great Life (as learned by visiting schools across America this year)

* a partial list

I am happy to report there is hope.

Just last week, I wrapped up my final school visit of the 2024-2025 school year. This one was in Somers, CT and a perfect way to close out an unforgettable season of adventurous growth.

This year, I visited schools across the country.

I met hundreds of kids and the grownups who care for them.

Here’s five things I’ve learned from visiting schools this year….

I have a notebook filled with the stickers they give you when you check-in at the school office.

1. We are all walking around with something precious inside us, hoping someone will notice.

A drawing. A question. A dream. A secret sadness. Many children have faced more than some adults. Still, they show up full of wonder and hope. I am forever in awe.

Listen to some of the lovely questions I was asked last week! It’s just a sampling of the beautiful conversations we got to have this year:

2. Creativity multiplies when shared.

Art is how we say what words can’t always hold. The drawings children make are bold acts of expression. In my travels, I’ve been handed stories about their lives, crayon self-portraits, stapled books, songs about the family dog. Whole worlds built from construction paper, glue, and imagination. Pictures of things that don’t yet exist in our world, but should. Their art, inspired by my art, will inspire my continued art. Around and around it goes.

Last week, the amazing media specialist (Mrs. Rebecca Joyal) in CT made the author visit an extra special one for the kids (and for this former kid). Including a hallway with every inch covered in student artwork inspired by things my wife and I have made!

Montague Mania! I’ve always wanted to have a disease named after me!

3. Teachers are magicians who work without applause.

I met educators who have spent decades making their schools into the safest, most magical places. Grownups who believe in kids are the secret ingredient to an unstoppable community.

The magical Mrs. Gapinski and her students in North Dakota sent me a book that their classroom created! When I sent them some of my books, they responded with a huge pack of handwritten notes that are so full of wise words from people like this “cool” 3rd grader.

4. Small gifts are never small.

Cookies. Handmade books. Notes I’ll keep forever. Every kind word and gift boosted my soul in ways I didn’t know it needed.

CSweets in Enfield, CT made these tasty custom ‘Fail-a-Bration’ cookies for last week’s school visit! You can click this to visit their site!

5. Love is everywhere, disguised as ordinary people doing their best.

Even in broken systems, messy politics, clunky resources, and heavy days, there is still more good than bad. None of that mess can dim the brightness of the students and grownups I met. Goodness keeps showing up.Light continues to shine. It always will.

It turns out, life is a lot like an elementary school hallway.

Sometimes messy. Sometimes loud. Often sticky. And occasionally, there’s just one tiny, untied shoe sitting there. How? Why? No one knows.

There are lost coats and forgotten lunches. Water fountains that never quite work right. Crayon masterpieces taped to the walls like bright, bold declarations saying: I was here! I made this!

And, of course, there’s the steady parade of kids. Small, hopeful, and learning how to be human in real time, they carry so much. Loaded with backpacks and notebooks, dreams and worries, and enormous questions (both spoken and unspoken).

Schools are places packed with possibility. The hallways are a collection of small, pulsing hopes and dreams, clumsy drawings, nervous jokes, secret worries, and teachers who somehow hold it all with gentle, vital hands. School is a place where a child says, “I made this,” and someone answers, “I see you!”

And that’s the real curriculum: seeing, being seen, and slowly becoming.

Even when you’re worried about the state of all things, one day you walk into a school and realize: Oh. Right. The kids.

The school year winds down.

The future winds up.

And I’m ending this season more hopeful than ever.

If you ever forget what matters most, just find a hallway. Look at what’s taped to the walls. You’ll remember.

1. Special Live Event Coming Soon!

At the end of summer, I’ll be hosting a special (and completely free!) live event for educators, administrators, parents, and anyone who works with children. More details coming soon right here.

2. Mr. Lobster Sings Your New Favorite Songs!

My friend Christian Loftus, who teaches music in Somers, CT, creates incredible songs for kids of all ages under the name MR. LOBSTER! Enjoy and share his music here!

3. Interested in a School Visit or Community Event?!

If you’d like to bring an author visit to your school or community, you can find all the details here.

p.s. THANK YOU AND WELCOME TO ALL OUR NEW SUBSCRIBERS! SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!