Geri Keams

I spent the day presenting programs to about 700 students in Garden Grove, CA. Student body is 70% Vietnamese and 30% Latino. They were some of the most well behaved students I’ve seen yet!! Dr. Ross the Principal did a wonderful job in preparing students for the program. I can see that the teachers and staff care about these kids!!!

Geri With Students At Anderson Elementary School

Had a great day with the third, fifth and sixth graders at Emery Park Elementary School in Alhambra, California. The Alhambra Educational Foundation sponsored the annual 6th Authors Day Festival in the Alhambra Unified School District. More that 70 authors spend the day throughout the school district sharing their experiences as authors and reading their books to students. Students were excited to meet real authors and to have their books signed by real authors!!

Went to see the pyramid of the Sun and Moon outside of Mexico City. Also saw the Atlanteans near the village of Tula.

Had a great time in Omaha performing for Native American students in the Omaha School district. Tami Maldonado-Mancebo is the Native American Programs Director and does a wonderful job providing programs and support for both students and parents in the Omaha Native American communities. She has proven that making connections thru the arts is proving success in getting students to stay in school. I found that there are many tribes represented in the Omaha School District. There’s the Ponca, Pottowattami, Winnebago, Blackfeet, Lakota, Omaha, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Comanche, and many, many more. One of the fascinating stories I heard was the inter-marriages of African American slaves and of the various tribes in the region. Tami produced a play based on the children’s book, “Crossing Bok Chitto” by Tim Tingle. The story is about a slave family who escapes across the Missouri River into the safety of Indian Lands.

Family Gathering at the American Indian Education Center in Omaha, Nebraska