While NDA students enjoyed reading the book Where Am I Wearing by Kelsey Timmerman, it wasn’t until they experienced a virtual visit from the author through Skype, that the book came to life for them.
NDA English teacher Amanda Staggs read the book in graduate school and had the opportunity to meet the book’s author, Kelsey Timmerman, when he spoke to her grad school class. She wanted to bring that same experience to her three freshman English classes at Notre Dame Academy, but when she realized it would be cost prohibitive, she did the next best thing and arranged a virtual visit with Timmerman through Skype.
Her students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the author of their most recent read. “They enjoyed Timmerman’s sense of humor and felt like the visit made reading nonfiction more real,” said Ms. Staggs. “They were also inspired to think more about traveling the world,” she added.
Timmerman’s book sheds light on global issues and initiates dialogue about how to improve our world economy. In his book, Where Am I Wearing?, he traveled the world to find out where his clothes came from. Visiting garment factories in Asia and Latin America, he shares the stories of the people who make our clothes. From a 20-something t-shirt maker in Honduras to a single mother of two in Bangladesh, Timmerman humanizes the issues of globalization and provokes readers to check their tags and think about where their clothing came from.
After Skyping with Timmerman, the class decided to send him a “thank you” package, which included notes from the class and a few simple gifts. Much to their surprise, Timmerman mentioned his visit to NDA and their act of kindness on his blog saying,
“Every gift was thought out and full of meaning. It’s gestures and encouragement like this that fuel me. I doubt my work will change the lives of the people I write about, but maybe, just maybe it changes those exposed to it. And the change in readers and audience members, may change the lives of the children of the farmers and factory workers I’ve met around the world.”
Check out Kelsey Timmerman’s complete blog post about his virtual visit to Notre Dame Academy HERE.