School Visits with Chris
4th of 5 Installments

By Dominique Garde Torres (Nikki)

Author's Note: These are my personal impressions about the writing seminar with Chris Eboch, which was sponsored by the Philippine chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) in Manila on July 15 and 16, 2006. Chris is the Regional Advisor for SCBWI New Mexico, and the author several of books including The Well of Sacrifice, a young adult historical fiction set in 9th century Guatemala. - Dominique Garde Torres (Nikki)

How to describe them? They were designed to be a cross between a simple Meet the Author and a mini-workshop. Not exactly an afterthought, they were nevertheless secondary to our all important dates on the 15th and the 16th. Initially we had thought we could handle two visits, both on the 17th, the day after THE BIG EVENT.

And so we started calling and writing people whom we knew, heads of schools and libraries. We were very specific, targetting schools whom we thought would actually be willing to spend their resources and release their students for one or two hours in order to deal with an extra activity.
Our batting average was really not bad. We got in touch directly with four schools. Of the four, two said "yes." These were St. Scholastica's College and the Philippine High School for the Arts. The third school we visited, The Nazareth School came to us. Or actually, the story is, Onie, one of their teachers and a former officemate called me to ask for some telephone numbers. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned the book talk, the workshop and the school visits. I was actually pushing her to join the workshop. Two hours later, I got a call from her saying their school wanted to take part in the school visits. A day later, all was confirmed. Just like that!

So, our schedule was:
July 12, 9 - 11:30 a.m. The Nazareth School, Lipa, Batangas
July 17, 8 - 10 a.m. St. Scholastica's College
July 17, 2 - 4 p.m. Philippine High School for the Arts

This meant that we had the afternoon of the 12th free to explore Batangas. We also asked the PHSA if on the 17th they could host us for the night (yes, that was Nikki and her chutzpah talking - "our workshop will be done by 4 p.m. but could you feed us dinner, let us use your guest house for the night and send us off after breakfast?) and they agreed. This meant that on the 18th, we were able to travel back to Manila at our own pace, stopping every once in a while to view the sights.

The Nazareth School

Of course we refused to believe native Lipeno Dennis Marasigan when he told us that it would take only an hour and half to get from Manila to Batangas. And as I told Chris, she was stuck with two people who are both a bit fanatic about time. I take pride in being late very rarely, on those occassions that I am, I turn slightly frantic. Beaulah would rather be two hours early than ten minutes late. So we got to the city about an hour and half early and a full hour in advance of our appointment at the school.

Having been unable to download the map which I had nagged Nazareth into e-mailing me, we were able to get to Lipa quite easily but had absolutely no idea where the school was. Fortunately, a couple of young people eating at MacDonald's (where we also had breakfast) knew where it is and ten minutes later, we were at the school.

The school was a small school - or a big house, depending on how you want to see it. We were met by Jo Ann Reyes, their very amiable school directress. This woman was all eagerness and warmth, and very, very accommodating. Her English, I noticed, was excellent. In consideration of our early arrival, she immediately made sure that the first batch of students were ready 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

As we went down the hallways of the school, we were barraged with the images of the children's works pinned all over the walls. We learned from Jo-Ann that instead of relying on English and Filipino textbooks, the teachers use reading lists that they provided to the students. In the classroom, we found that instead of individual chairs with desks, the children sat in tables together. All over the walls of the rooms, more samples of their work were proudly displayed.

The first session with the grades 3 and 4 students started at 8:30 and ended at 9:00. I hesitate to go into details about how and what Chris taught since I suspect this is copyrighted under her name. Suffice it to say that she started by asking the children what their favorite books were and continued with guidelines or rather guide questions in putting together a story. After a brief talk on the questions, she allowed them a few minutes to write. This was pretty much the system she followed: lecture, discuss, write. Lecture, discuss, write. Finally, to illustrate her point, she discussed her book and showed them illustrations from it. The second session, which was from 9:30 to 10:30, was pretty much the same.

Chris did allot a certain amount of time for questions and answers. Here the children amused the adults with their wit and with the directness of their queries. One little boy actually asked Chris outright how much money she made. Another wanted to know if she had a boyfriend. There were questions about how much time she took to write the 200 pages of the book. When they learned that it took her six months, there was collective gasp of "Oh No!' And there were many, many questions on how her story ended. So much so that she ended up donating the book to their library!

After both sessions, the children very sweetly (and agressively and insistently) asked Chris for her autograph. In between sessions we had a really delicious merienda of chocolate-e and bibingka and for lunch we had caldereta, fish and chicken. Delicious, and for Chris a really good introduction to Filipino food. They sent us off with requests for many more activities of this kind as well as gifts of suman and coffee, and for Chris a huge candle.

It was on a very personal level, a very satisfying experience. Watching the faces of the children, their eagerness to learn made me feel so good that I had a rather goofy smile plastered on my face for most of the time. This was also the first time that the four of us - Beaulah, Nikki, Chris and Ikoy - worked as a team and it was, even if I do say so myself, a pretty good team. Beaulah was the team leader, Ikoy was the photographer/driver, Nikki was the coordinator and Chris was of course, the teacher.

St. Scholastica's College

At 7 am on July 17th, we headed off for St. Scholastica's College. We warned Chris that this would be a slightly different experience since it was known to be a conservative Catholic school. And it was.

After getting into the campus, it took us just a few minutes to find the elementary school. We knew we were expected by the huge sign on a portable blackboard, written with multi-colored chalk saying "Welcome Chris Eboch." We were met by the principal, Didi Villegas. After a short stay at the conference room we were then escorted to the Library where the workshop was held.

A word about this library - it was wonderful! It was big, it was well lit and the children had a little raised platform with pillows and mattresses where they could lie down and read in comfort. Turtles and hamsters were available for borrowing along with the usual books.

The first session was for grades 3 and 4, the second for grades 5 and 6. Between sessions we had a truly delicious snack of backed macaroni, coffee, tea, softdrinks and pastry. Lunch was similarly heavy.

As we went up the stairs to the library, we learned a little bit about the school. We saw the huge tree, where, when a class picture was taken, ghosts were seen in the final print. And we learned that it being a girls' school, the only boys bathroom was on the 4th floor. Poor Ikoy!

As with Nazareth, the talk of Chris was followed the same format. This time, she did not go into the "questions" but asked them to relate times when they were scared. This time, one or two children were able to read what they wrote.

An interesting note about our team was that none of us were practicing Catholics. So being in an intensely Roman Catholic school was a new and truly novel experience for all of us. The prayers before the start of the session complete with a little bow was an amusing practice, particularly for myself, a person who grew up in a rather secular school.

This time the young ladies sat on the floor. There was a powerpoint presentation that served as a very good introduction of Chris: who she is, where she is from, the books she has written. Questions were asked again, and this time the children were a little bit more discreet. Instead of asking if she had a boyfriend, they instead asked her to "tell us more about yourself." But the autograph signing was the same, as was appreciation we felt from all of them. Lucky old Chris came away from the experience with a gift of books and a jacket. Again, Chris donated a copy of her book to their already large library.

Again, my goofy smile must have been plastered on my face all morning because again, I was amused, touched and satisfied with the students and their teachers.

The Philippine High School for the Arts

After St. Scho, off we went to Mount Makiling and the Philippine High School for the Arts. I personally was looking forward to this particular trip because I had worked many, many times with the school and had never had any problems. I trusted their staff and was sure that the young people would not be found wanting in talent. I had forgotten that it had been over two years since I had worked directly with them.

After a traffic filled trip we finally reached our destination. We were expecting two 1-hour sessions with 13-16 year old students, a mixture of creative writing majors, and students from other disciplines. Instead, we found that we were expected to conduct two 2-hour sessions for 8 creative writing majors and 12 teachers.

Obviously, it's all a matter of miscommunication. Happily, we managed to arrange things and all the details were ironed out to everyone's satisfaction and relief. After this, all went well.

With 8 creative writing majors left, the session went much, much faster. This time Chris had the time to ask all of them to read their works out loud and to give them bits of advice. She pretty much covered the same ground, only much faster and slightly more advanced. She also added lessons on description - similar to the lessons she had given the adults just a day earlier.

After a short break we continued. Considering that this time, Chris had the same students for both sessions, a bit more depth and rapport was established with the young ladies (yes, for some reason, all the Creative Writing Majors of the school were female!).

In the evening, we had an outdoor dinner by the pool, near the ruins of the school's caffeteria which had burned in 2001. The setting with the dim lights and the music felt like prom night. On the lamp posts, the works of the young ladies were displayed. Providing additional lights were overhead projectors. They had actually attempted (and unfortunately failed) to project their works on the pool. Dinner was good and we had the chance right before that to interact a bit more with the students. After dinner, we were serenaded with somgs and instrumental pieces from the music majors and poetry read by the creative writing ladies. It ended with a few surprise words of thanks from Chris. (Even she was surprised!)

While this trip did not start out as well as the others, the young people with their talent and enthusiasm did more than save the day. I am reminded again and again about why I do love returning to this mystic mountain and working with its young students.

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