THUNDER BAY - Students at a local elementary school received a unique lesson on inspiration and writing from an award-winning author.
Eric Walters, who has written more than 100 young adult and picture books, spoke with students virtually at Claude E. Garton Public School on Thursday.
“I learned a lot about him and he’s had many more careers than just being an author and he didn’t plan on being an author,” said Grade 7 student, Maija Turuba. “He wanted to start in the NBA but that didn’t work out for him he said and writing was really fun.”
“He really likes sports and I really want to be a hockey player but that’s really hard,” added Grade 8 student, Edelweiss Price. “But I also really want to help people, like being a doctor.”
Walters worked as a teacher in Streesville, Ontario and as a way of encouraging his students to read and write, he wrote his first novel, Stand Your Ground.
Throughout his career, Walters has won numerous awards and his writing is often based on real world experiences, including walking across the Sahara Desert and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
“I’ve been reading Eric Walters' books to students for several years now and they get really involved in the books really quickly,” said Martine Engel, an English French immersion teacher. “They were really keen to meet him and ask him some questions. They were really good listeners.”
Even the teachers learned a lot of interesting details about Walter’s life, including his founding of Creation of Hope, which provides care to orphans in Kenya.
“The students were really engaged,” said French emersion teacher, Matt Hartman. “It was nice to see, especially for a younger grade. He's lived such an incredible life and it’s an inspiring story.”
Walter’s books are often historical fiction, but what he writes about still applies to events taking place today.
“It’s historical fiction, but in the present,” Engel said. “Recently we read Don’t Stand so Close to Me, which is about COVID. All of his books are really relatable and provide a lot of discussion and a lot of thought. It gives them opportunities to speak about things they might not otherwise talk about.”
“It’s really special occasion, despite the person not being there,” Hartman added. “It’s something different for the kids. Especially right now with all the restrictions in place with COVID it’s nice to change up our daily routine and have a guest.”
