Award-Winning Author Jerry Craft Surprises Coral Springs Middle School Readers

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Author Jerry Craft visits students at Coral Springs Middle School. {courtesy}

Students at Coral Springs Middle School received a surprise visit from award-winning author and illustrator Jerry Craft after discovering a love for his graphic novel “New Kid.”

Craft visited the school Sept. 14 to meet with students, sign books, and demonstrate how he creates his illustrations.

He also left the school an original drawing addressed, “To my friends at Coral Springs Middle School!”

The author and illustrator of “New Kid,” “Class Act,” and “School Trip,” “New Kid” became the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal and also received the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature.

The visit all started during a classroom reading assignment led by English and reading teacher Sonise Benedict, whose students had been studying “New Kid.”

Students laughed at the characters, made inferences, and connected the story to their own middle school experiences. Benedict said even some reluctant readers began asking to continue reading.

“What started as a classroom reading experience became something much bigger,” Benedict said. “They weren’t just completing an assignment anymore. They wanted to know what happened next.”

English and reading teacher Sonise Benedict, with author Jerry Craft. {courtesy}

Benedict began posting about the students’ projects, discussions, and enthusiasm for the book on social media. She tagged Craft and his publisher, HarperCollins, hoping to show them how the story was affecting her students.

He noticed the posts, and organizations including Learning Ally and Kahoot! joined the online conversation. The connection eventually led to the author’s surprise appearance at the school.

Students gathered for what they thought would be another school activity before Craft walked into the room.

Craft, who now lives in Orlando, grew up in Washington Heights and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1984 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts

During his visit to Coral Springs Middle School, Craft signed copies of his book, created artwork, and spoke with students about his work as an author and illustrator.

The experience also held special meaning for Benedict, who is an author herself. She gave Craft a copy of her book, “Mapping Meaning Through Literature: Using Visual Thinking & AI to Strengthen Literary Analysis.”

Craft drew inside the book and wrote, “KEEP WRITING!”

Benedict began her education as an English for Speakers of Other Languages student before earning a degree in English literature and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. She has presented her teaching methods at the Future of Education Technology Conference and Broward’s IDEA EXPO.

She told Coral Springs Talk that she hopes the visit encourages students to create opportunities and believe in what they can accomplish.

“I want my students to understand that where you begin does not determine where you finish,” Benedict said. “You do not need to wait for a title before you begin making an impact. Sometimes you have to create the opportunity yourself, and when that door opens, you hold it open for your students too.”

For Benedict, the author’s visit demonstrated what can happen when a teacher shares her students’ enthusiasm beyond the classroom.

“I have learned that sometimes you cannot wait for someone to offer you a seat at the table,” she said. “Sometimes you have to build your own table, pull up your own chair, and make sure there is room beside you for your students.”

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Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.