It wasn’t a regular school day walking onto the campus of Trapnell Elementary School, Nov. 21. A classic car, tow truck and fire truck were parked out front. In the courtyard, chickens clucked in cages. Students cooed as they passed by tethered sheep. A motorcycle roared from some mysterious corner.
It was the 2013 Great American Teach-In. The program encourages parents and community members to speak about their careers to students. Plant City Times & Observer Editor Michael Eng, Associate Editor Amber Jurgensen and Staff Writer Justin Kline visited Trapnell, as well as Wilson and Knights elementary schools, to talk about their jobs in the newspaper industry. Advertising Executive Veronica Prostko also spoke at Walden Lake Elementary School.
It was hard to follow up an engaging speaker from Busch Gardens at Trapnell. One fourth-grade class was still raving about her presentation, which included turtles and worms.
Emma Stephens, 9, walked in with three worms in her hands.
“I liked it because she brought all the turtles with bumps and webbed feet,” she said. “She showed us the worms.”
“She ate them,” Audea Thames, 11, said of the speaker. “She said it tastes like peanuts but saltier.”
In another class, 9-year-old Michelle Lanbazuri said her favorite speaker was an architect, who showed the students photos of buildings he had designed.
“I liked the hotel,” Lanbazuri said.
Across town at Knights Elementary, students were impressed with a scientist, who talked about the three states of matter. She even brought in dry ice for an experiment.
“It was cool,” Alani Robb, 7, said.
And although the dry ice was memorable, Robb had another favorite speaker.
“I like the newspaper,” Robb said. “I like writing. And writing is cool.”
During the Plant City Times & Observer’s sessions, Eng talked about the newspaper business. Kline was able to tell students about beat writing, specifically sports reporting. Jurgensen interviewed students and ran a scavenger hunt in the paper. Of course, candy was the reward.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.