Introducing Michael Vey to those with and without Tourette Syndrome

     Being someone with Tourette Syndrome I feel a very powerful connection to this book. I believe that it will be a great way not only to teach the values but also to reach out to those with Tourette Syndrome, those who love them as well as everyone else.
     The idea was talked about to do some type of award for the schools, the Michael Vey award. I suggest to do something similar with all of the Tourette Syndrome Chapters. Maybe look at doing between 1 and 3 total and after the kids, parents, family, or who ever in the chapter have read the book there is an entry form or some type of guideline for them to write something and submit it. I think people with Tourette Syndrome will be drawn to the book already but I think this could juice up the excitement and encourage them to get more from it.
     As well I think that using the Youth Ambassadors in the chapters would be beneficial.  They are young, excited about teaching others what Tourette Syndrome is and in school. Great way to tie it all together. Not to mention a good amount of them have Tourette Syndrome.

Kara Larsen - Utah Chapter Chairman

Kids Talk About Tourette Syndrome

Empowering those who live with Tourette Syndrome and other disabilities is a major focus of Richard Paul Evans through the Michael Vey series. Below is an excerpt from a letter from the Manager of Public Relations and Communications of the Tourette Syndrome Association.

    "We spoke briefly many years back, and I have followed your career since! I had a lovely chat with Karen Roylance a few weeks ago and she filled me in on, and sent me a pre-publication copy of 'Michael Vey and the Electric Cheerleader'.  We at TSA are very excited to help spread the word about this wonderful book and know that our young (and old!) members will enjoy it very much!

    In addition to working with you in the future when the book is released and inviting you to our 2012 national conference, at this time. we would like to feature you as a "Family Portrait' - a Q&A column in our newsletter which focuses on individuals who can serve as inspiration to readers young and old.

    To see previous features, click here:  http://www.tsa-usa.org/People/LivingWithTS/LivingTS.htm and view the right hand column where it reads 'Family Portraits'."

- Tracy Colletti- Flynn

Boys in Crisis

Why one of Richard Paul Evans' areas of focus in the Michael Vey series is boys.

Private School Market Etc.

My two English teachers and I have discussed the private school market/initiative a little bit.  There is a network that we can work through and see what results we come up with.  The independent school network is divided up Nationally (NAIS), regionally (New England, Middle States, Southern States, Midwestern (ISACS), and Western.  Then each state has an association such as OAIS in Ohio.  Some are more active than others but there has to be a way to get info out to all of them.  I like the idea of a Michael Vey website encouraging teachers or schools to sign up/check in etc.  I would think a post card campaign or email campaign (cheaper) might be one direction to go.

Bill Glisson - Private School Principal

Getting Michael Vey into Our Schools

One of the questions asked was "How does a book get selected by a school dristrict?"and "How does a book get included on the reading lists of teachers in middle schools and junior highs? I think one important way is to win some awards with the book. The Newberry Award is the biggest, as I'm sure you are aware, but there are many other awards and lists that are also very helpful.

http://www.ala.org/: This is the American Library Association. They have 16+ awards books can be nominated for! One is for "Best Fiction for Young Adults". Another division of the Library Association is the ALSC, which is the Association for Library Service to Children.
http://www.reading.org/: This leads you to the IRA, which is the International Reading Association. This organization is very well respected and has been around forever! They publish all kinds of "choice" reading lists as well.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/: another resource for lists of recommended books for schools.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/: This is the ERIC website for education resources.
http://www.nea.org/: This is the National Education Association website. Here you can learn about a program called "Read Across America" and the "Cat-A-Van" they use to promote this program. This made me think of what Rick said about creating some sort of traveling assembly for schools. Maybe there would be a way to piggy-back off that program or create our own similar one.
http://www.nagc.org/: This is the National Association for Gifted Children. This is the association for which Rick gave the Keynote several years ago in Salt Lake City.

Some of the ideas floating around in my head are: 1. Create a National ad campaign that would promote book clubs for students...not the Scholoastic "book club" advertisements that they get bombarded with, but an actual book club...starting with the Michael Vey series! It would be really neat if we could get big celebrities to do public service announcements for this. 2. Create/promote some sort of "Book Pal" (like Pen Pal) program in which students from different schools in different states communicate via Skype or email or even snail mail about books they are reading. 3. Do what one of Rick's characters did and create a billboard ad campaign with clever billboards all across the nation that say things like "Who is Michael Vey?". Also, something to note..."Bullying" is a really big buzz word these days, so anything you can do to promote the book as a way to help with the bullying crisis in our country would really help make the series popular with school boards, teachers and principals.

Jenni Davis - Public School Teacher

National Middle School Association

I have an idea that would allow us to hit thousands of middle school teachers and administrators as well as possibly school board members in person at one time.  NMSA has an annual meeting complete with keynote speakers that draws literally thousands of educators, all of them involved with middle school.  This is THE biggest middle level gathering in the nation.  The dates for next fall are November 10-12 and it will be in Louisville.  It moves all over the country.  The timing isn't bad for release.  You can also purchase the mailing list of attendance prior to the conference.  Attendance last year was about 8,000. I have attended this for at least the past ten years and I think it has phenomenal potential. 

Visit http://www.nmsa.org/ to learn more about this organization.

Bill Glisson - Private School Principal

Welcome to the Michael Vey Advisory Blog!

On behalf of Richard Paul Evans, thank you for bringing flight to Michael Vey and kids everywhere who will find their reading wings within its pages.

This blog is for our advisory counsel. I will email you the information you need to post here. Please feel free to do so, or email me with information you would like included. This is your site.

We are a powerful group with unique talents, interests, contacts and experiences. Together we will do great things! Already, we have written curriculum and reading tests, taken Michael Vey to school districts and other decision makers within schools, approached literary groups and national reading lists. And that's just the beginning!

Please share your ideas and suggestions with one another. Also, Barry Evans and I are here to assist you in anything you need personally or in your sub-committees. Don't hesitate to call on us! We are grateful for your amazing energy and are excited to go on this ride with all of you!

We will hold our second Michael Vey meeting March 1st @ 6:00 pm (mst) at Marie Callendar's. At this meeting we will be sharing what we have done so far and our sub-committees' action plans. We will also provide synergizing ideas, support and coordination with each other.

FYI, we are forming a Michael Vey Youth Counsel, an exclusive group for kids between 12 and 15, who will be meeting on February 22 @ 6:00 pm at Fat Cats (Pizza Factory) 900 East 3739 South, SLC. We have room for a few more youth, so please contact me if you have someone you would like to participate in this group.

With Much Appreciation,

Karen Roylance