Lindsay Toler shares her blogs from the Beijing Olympics with Thurgood Elementary students

Yesterday, I was honored to be a presenter at Career Day at Thurgood Marshall Elementary in LH near Skillman and LBJ. You can check out my photo slideshow here and my video here. TME’s Executive Assistant, Susan Gregory, invited me to discuss blogging and the various ways the internet has changed the face of journalism. I was pleased to participate, and – luckily for the kids – I brought in the big blogging guns, my daughter Lindsay.

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I shared with the kids the way blogging works and the value of telling stories about the great people of Lake Highlands. They were polite and attentive. I offered them free gifts, courtesy of Advocate Magazines – bracelets and balloons and bags emblazoned with our logos. They were grateful. Then Lindsay pulled up her Neighborsgo.com blog from the Beijing Olympics, showing her video of the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the Birds Nest stadium and footage of her eating a scorpion in a Beijing outdoor market. The kids were enthralled. Disgusted, but enthralled.

Every thirty minutes, a new crop of kids would come into the cafeteria and hear from various exhibitors who set up shop, including: a horticulturalist who brought in plants for the kids to see and touch, a cake decorator who brought cupcakes for them to decorate, a structural engineer who brought photos of his creations including a Disney water park attraction resembling a roller coaster, a soccer coach with video of several of his team’s matches,  a college student who told about the doors that can open if you work hard enough to earn a scholarship, a physical therapist who gave back massages, and several other dedicated, enthusiastic professionals.

My hat goes off to all who volunteered to give time during their busy work week to inspire and motivate kids. Each of the students seemed to take away a little something from each presenter, and Lindsay and I could tell when we hit upon a child who had a love of writing, reading, photography and/or videography. Our message was: “Every person has a story to tell,” and we urged each child to develop their own stories and to find a way to use them to help others. I shared my recent post about the Lakey family who held a garage sale last weekend to raise money for their adoption of an Ethiopian orphan. The kids understood that the Advocate could do what mere yardsigns could not, that the blog was able to reach lots more people who could donate items for sale or purchase items to increase the total proceeds. (The Lakeys collected $3200 at their sale and are grateful to the community).

One student said he thought he’d like to write about his dog. Another wanted to post video of February’s big snow event. One girl told me she’s the middle child of 5, and she thought other middle children might be able to relate to feeling overlooked. One world-wise girl said she’d like to write about “living a tough life.” Others thought summer vacation, their athletic competitions and tomorrow’s school Field Day would make interesting stories. Lindsay and I agreed with all their ideas and said we’d be anxious to read every one.

Thank you students of Thurgood Marshall Elementary, and thank you Ms. Guillory, the school counselor who put the event together. It’s a big, wide, wonderful world, and every student has a story to tell.