The middle and high schools worked collectively with the Belleville Public Library and Belleville Area Cares Coalition (BACC) to bring in Adib Khorram, the author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay, on Tuesday, November 5th. The author presented to both middle and high school students, then to staff, and finally to parents and the community.
BACC purchased copies of the Young Adult novel for the middle school, with every 7th and 8th grader reading the novel in their P.R.I.D.E. block to start each day. These books were then available for high school students to pick up, inspired by Adib’s visit and the book’s themes of bullying and depression. Accordingly, the public library sponsored two Thursday night presentations in October on teen mental health. These events all occurred around Red Ribbon Week at the middle and high schools.
Thanks to Kiley Ogodogu who served as our connection to the author, and to Melissa Whitmore, the secondary instructional coach, for leading the novel’s read-aloud in the middle school.
