Every year, the good people at Williamstown Elementary in Williamstown, Massachusetts put on a week-long festival called “Words Are Wonderful“. This week, I was privileged to be the third and final visiting author of the week (after Trinka Hakes Noble and Candice Ransom) and I had a terrific time speaking to the fifth and sixth grades.

Williamstown is a fascinating school. It was built about five years ago and designed from the ground up to be a “green” school, energy-efficient from top to bottom. In fact, you can even visit their site and see an up-to-the-minute display of their energy consumption. (I just checked, and the solar panels are currently generating 4.6 kilowatts, or about 46 hundred-watt bulb’s worth of power.) It’s not uncommon for the school to generate more power than it uses, and they re-sell the extra back to the utilities.

One of the nicest parts of what turned out to be a terrific visit was the great artwork produced by the students. The younger kids did some Absolutely Not ink blot illusions, and the sixth graders made some of the best Backbeard pirate collages I’ve ever seen. Thanks to Jessica Dils and everyone at Williamstown for all your great work!