Author, SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF MAYBE; Founder, Outdoorosity.org
Random House Children's Books; Outdoorosity.org
Jo Watson Hackl is the Founder of Outdoorosity.org, a free resource for inspiration and information about nature. Jo is also the national best-selling author of SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF MAYBE (Random House Children’s Books), which won the Southern Book Prize and is an Amazon Teacher's Pick. A first-generation college graduate, Jo has presented to over 22,000 librarians, other educators, and students. She donates her honorarium to buy books for children selected by the host organization. She has worked for thirty years to end the generational cycle of poverty and to provide opportunities for engagement with nature. Jo is a Liberty Fellow, a Riley Fellow, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She serves on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force for the Greenville, SC school system.
SMACK DAB takes readers on an adventure with 12-year-old Cricket as she tries to survive on her own in the woods of an overgrown ghost town and solve a clue trail left by an eccentric artist. With the help of a poetry-loving dog, maybe, just maybe, she can do it. The book is set outdoors and includes curriculum tie-ins to art, ELA, history, geography, mathematics, and science. Working with experienced educators, she has developed a bounty of free resources for librarians and other educators and readers including outdoor adventures, a "Building Grit Kit," a "Writing and Revision Toolkit," and a "Book Club Kit." You can find these at https://JoHackl.com. The "Building Grit Kit" uses nature as a springboard point to help students build skills that increase grit and resiliency. Please email her at Jo@JoHackl.com if you'd like to apply to take part in a mentored implementation of that kit or to collaborate on a nature-related project.
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Monday, June 27, 2022
2:30pm – 3:30pm