Second grade teacher Devin Williams hosted her final parent breakfast for the year the week before school ended. Parents brought a blanket and a picnic basket and gathered on the Lakeshore lawn to enjoy readings by each of the children of the stories they had written and illustrated in hardbound books.

"I started the monthly parent breakfast to bring parents and students together so they could see what has been going on in our classroom," Devin explained. "We usually show the parents something we have been working on or have a little assignment that parents and students work on together during breakfast. It has been wonderful and I feel that parents really appreciate knowing how their child is doing on a regular basis."

For this final breakfast of the year, Devin enlisted the support of parent Jennifer Bojarczyk to help with planning. Jennifer came up with the idea of a picnic on the front lawn and gave it a patriotic theme with shiny hats and a flag cake. The children had been working hard over the past two months writing and illustrating their own books, tying together everything they learned over the year in grammar, spelling, writing, proofreading and reading. Devin started the project by conducting a writing workshop in which she worked with small groups of children to help them organize their ideas onto paper. The students went on to write rough drafts. Devin then asked fifth grade teacher Bob Lapadot if he would be interested in having his students mentor the second graders in editing their drafts. Over a series of four 45-minute sessions, each second grader worked with a fifth grade peer editor who gave him or her individualized attention.

"It was wonderful watching them work together," Devin said. "I believe peer editors make the best teachers! The fifth graders helped them with spelling, punctuation, and even illustrations." Many of the second graders dedicated their books to their fifth grade buddy.

Since the fifth graders were such a great help to the younger students, Devin invited them to the breakfast. Bob Lapadot brought his famous punch and fruit kabobs to help the children celebrate. Said Bob of the experience: "It was amazing witnessing first-hand what Devin has accomplished with these children. The quality of writing was outstanding."