Jeff Lynn and Ball Charter School students BOOK the NPR Illinois studio

Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. In the studio with me today, I've got a few people. First off, Jeff Lynn and students from Ball Charter School. Jeff Lynn, how's it going?
Jeff Lynn:
Glad to be here, Jeff.
Jeff Williams:
Was that the proper name of the school?
Jeff Lynn:
That is Springfield Ball Charter School. Most people think that's in Chatham, but it's right across the street from Southeast. It is a school of choice focused on literacy. We've got 8th grade students writing children's books for kindergarten through second graders to read back to them. So, my hope is that we could do a little discussion about ball charter as I see it, as the kids see it, that it's in Springfield, that we focus on literacy and anybody could join the lottery. And then we would try to talk about the children's book program. We meet every couple of weeks. There is a primary classroom.
Jeff Williams:
The group of you and the students.
Jeff Lynn:
Me and a kindergarten teacher or first and second grade teacher will just share classes. So, half of my kids will go to that class, half her class will come to mind. And we meet and … at first … we just chat and enjoy the kids. We're interested in all the off-task things the little kids do, what they're really into, the forbidden number, for instance, 67.
Jeff Williams:
67 is the number of choice.
Jeff Lynn:
It's a very important part of their life and it's been so wonderful to have my older students who are driving me nuts with that number. (laughter) I have to deal with younger kids who like it even more and say it so much more often where it's really drifted out of style. in the older group. That's been very, very helpful. Then we start brainstorming. We develop some characters. We also let the younger kids make character cards for us where they just make a vision of a character and with some description of how they are physically and socially and emotionally. And then these are creatures we use to try to tell stories, and we just play and try to be inspired. And then as the kids move on, the older kids start to draft a little text and intend it to be decodable by a kindergarten through second grade reader. So, we have to be very careful with (our) vocabulary. I find … as a teacher anytime that I reduce. the amount of text to be written, I can greatly increase the grammatical and mechanical requirement. And then I'll grade grammar, mechanics, and design, but the younger students grade content. So, then I've got my 8th graders in a real-life writer struggle of they have their vision, but they got this pain of an editor who just doesn't quite agree, wants more 6, 7, or other monsters. And I put them in that writer's dilemma of which are you going to manage? Is your vision more important in the marketplace. And I think as we try to produce as artists, we have to battle with that all of the time. And I just feel the more marketable and relevant activities we give our kids to do, the more engaged they are, the better their behavior is and the better their own reading is.
Jeff Williams:
Love it.
Jeff Lynn:
I would like it if Phoenix could join us.
Jeff Williams:
Phoenix, okay, Phoenix is going to be first up. All right. Phoenix, how's it going? Good. All right. Well, that's a good start. Thank you.
Jeff Lynn:
Hey, Phoenix, what grade are you in?
Phoenix Smith:
Second grade.
Jeff Lynn:
How many years have you been in Reading Buddies?
Phoenix Smith:
I've done it, I think, for like 2 years or three.
Jeff Lynn:
What do you like about Reading Buddies?
Phoenix Smith:
I just like going upstairs, just meeting everybody new. Enjoy seeing my sister up there.
Jeff Lynn:
Did you get to look at any of the book prototypes last time we were together?
Phoenix Smith:
Maybe.
Jeff Lynn:
We have some more for you to look at Friday, and I hope you will be a really tough editor. Do you think you could be critical of the books?
Phoenix Smith:
Yes.
Jeff Lynn:
Do we have to be careful about what vocabulary we put in there to make sure that you could read it, or do you want to learn some new words?
Phoenix Smith:
Learn new words.
Jeff Lynn:
All right, I like it. When you were in my class in 7th and 8th grade, Do you want to be the older reading buddy?
Phoenix Smith:
Yeah. I just want to make like, just like a second grader or like a kindergartener, like make their day like happy. Just make them smile. Teach them new stuff.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah.
Phoenix Smith:
Teach them what is coming ahead of them and just I just want to see them smile.
Jeff Lynn:
I really think that our children are mirrors. They are showing us the trauma they've endured. They show us the respect they're receiving. And I think if we're concerned that a kid is responding to you disrespectfully, we have to ask, in what respect have they been shown? If respect in our society is deteriorating, it's likely that these younger people are some of the most disrespected people in our culture. And I think that we should really consider that and make sure that we're celebrating them. And that's part of what this project's about.
Jeff Williams:
Well, Phoenix, let me ask you this. Like when you are, if you're coming up with something, do you like to think about the picture that you're painting in their head? Using your words, you're like making a story for them. I know that it was a long question, but do you like kind of thinking when somebody's reading my words that it's like painting a picture for them?
Phoenix Smith:
Yeah, I like to think about that.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah.
Jeff Lynn:
Phoenix, would you rather write or draw that picture for the audience?
Phoenix Smith:
Draw, because I'm good at drawing.
Jeff Lynn:
You are. But do you remember what you were drawing in the gym this morning?
Phoenix Smith:
Like a stick figure with like powers. Like a shield, a scythe with two ends of it. just like flying. I just draw some random stuff, and it just comes in my head. So.
Jeff Williams:
Hey, that's what I do a lot of times too. When I'm making a painting or something, it's just random stuff that pops in my head and then I put it on there and just see how it goes. And then slowly it fits together later. I'm like, I'm not sure why I drew those things together, but I did. There must have been something going on in my head right then to make me do those things around the same time. So, I totally understand that, Phoenix.
Jeff Lynn:
And I think the older students are learning that there is an audience for many of the things we want to do. It might not be your friend is interested, but there is a niche. There's a group who wants to appreciate that.
Jeff Williams:
All right, we have another person come to the mic, or how are we going to do this?
Jeff Lynn:
Well, we're so fortunate we have Phoenix's older sister, Samera, here with us.
Jeff Williams:
Samera, right on.
Jeff Lynn:
Can she please join us?
Jeff Williams:
Oh, oh, oh, jeez, got to get that. Okay, well, Samera, are you ready, do you think? Can you hear yourself?
Samera Smith:
Yeah.
Jeff Williams:
Is it kind of wild to hear yourself on there?
Samera Smith:
Yeah, I don't like hearing myself.
Jeff Williams:
Well, you know, you're going to have to deal with it for a little bit. (laughter) Let me ask you this first off. This is a pretty easy one. How do you spell your name?
Samera Smith:
S-A-M-E-R-A.
Jeff Lynn:
How do you pronounce your name?
Samera Smith:
Samera. (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
Samera. I was one letter off. And so, Samera, you're Phoenix's older sister?
Samera Smith:
I am.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah. So, Phoenix just finished speaking, okay? And then now you're going to speak some.
Samera Smith:
Yeah.
Jeff Williams:
So, Jeff (Lynn), are you going to ask Samera some questions?
Jeff Lynn:
Hey Samara.
Samera Smith:
Yeah.
Jeff Lynn:
What's your favorite part about the reading and writing block that you attend at Springfield Bell Charter School?
Samera Smith:
There's so many good things about it. Like I think just being able to express myself in many different ways… (and) with what I choose to read. How I choose to write things, what I'm allowed to write. We definitely have a lot of freedom in class, which really helps students, especially like our age, like middle level students, middle school, so they can really express themselves instead of having a strict, this is what you have to do, this is how you have to do it. And that, I mean, that works, but it's definitely better to have freedom because then it's going to get the kids to want to do it.
Jeff Williams:
Then you get to think for yourself in a way, right? So, it kind of helps you think in a critical manner versus just, I get it, there's times when you're told you have to be told this and this and this, but sometimes it's like, okay, we're going to figure it out right now. We're not sure, but we're going to figure it out. That kind of helps, it kind of helps you keep engaged too, somewhat, right?
Samera Smith:
Yeah, definitely.
Jeff Lynn:
Are you pleased with our textbook for reading and writing?
Samera Smith:
So, we actually don't have a textbook. We don't, we're not (a) textbook class.
Jeff Lynn:
Oh, right on. Then what are you doing in there?
Samera Smith:
Everything. We read every day and we just comprehend what we read daily. And we write about what we're reading, and we compare it to movies and we compare it to other books in that series or other books by the author. or books that help with our like how the world is right now. So, we do a lot of things to help us like later in life to really know how to comprehend things.
Jeff Lynn:
What are you reading right now?
Samera Smith:
I'm reading ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone’. So, it’s the first book in the Harry Potter series.
Jeff Lynn:
What's the best book you've read this year?
Samera Smith:
Oh goodness. Can I choose two?
Jeff Lynn:
Of course.
Samera Smith:
Okay. So, my first one is ‘The Hate You Give’. It really emphasizes how people's lives are that are not compared to mine. I live in the suburbs. I have a stable home. I have everything that a child my age would want and need. And the children and I mean teenagers in that book don't really see life how I see it. So, it definitely helps give me a perspective of how other people live their lives and really helps me be grateful for everything I have. And then the other book that I really enjoyed was ‘A Thousand Paper Cranes’. And it really shows how like bombings and like atomics like radiation and stuff like affects people's lives and how like it really shows how bad it can really take over someone's life. Like the girl in the book, she didn't know she was sick. And then 10 years later, she just automatically got sick. And she just had to go through that and not knowing why.
Jeff Lynn:
Right. What's your children's book about?
Samera Smith:
My children's book is about brushing your teeth every night. Really helping my little brother, actually. Because every night, my mom is like, “Phoenix, brush your teeth!”. (But Phoenix says) “I don't want to brush my teeth, mom!” The problem solved in the text by the little boy in the book, his mom tells him to brush his teeth. And he's like, okay, I will. He never does. So he goes to bed, but then his toothbrush wakes up and starts talking to him. And the toothbrush is like, hey, you should probably listen to your mom and brush your teeth.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. So, I'm going to have you spin the mic back to Phoenix for a second here, please. So, Phoenix, how do you feel about this book?
Phoenix Smith:
I feel mad.
Jeff Williams:
I thought he, from the look on his face, as Samera was saying what the book was about, he looked like he was a little disgruntled about the whole thing. He wasn't really feeling it right off the bat. Though he might have liked the book, he felt it was aimed towards him.
Phoenix Smith:
It was. It was aimed towards me. I don't know why, but I just felt mad about it. She just said, my mom always tells me to brush my teeth, and I I do in the morning. So, half of it's true. Like I don't survive my teeth in the night, but I brush it in the morning.
Jeff Williams:
I just wanted to get a little feedback on that. We can go back to Samara then.
Jeff Lynn:
Excellent example of art imitating life. Did you draw the pictures for your book?
Samera Smith:
No.
Jeff Lynn:
How did you generate the images?
Samera Smith:
So, I actually used Google Gemini to help me generate. I used my own ideas and put that into words to help figure out how I wanted it to look.
Jeff Lynn:
And these have really been fun to work with because we're constantly battling AI in education and I think it's important to find good uses for them. I do think AI will be important in these children's adulthood. However, it sure is a pain when all of a sudden, the vocabulary in the essay is way above grade level and it's beautifully punctuated. And maybe a computer did that because your bedroom drawings, the brush, the tooth, they're just so well done. It looks like a children's book at Barnes and Noble.
Samera Smith:
Yeah, it looks really cool. I think AI helps with certain stuff. And then other stuff, it's like, ‘Oh, you didn't write that. You just didn't learn anything.’
Jeff Lynn:
Tayler, would you please take the mic and the headphones? Okay. Will you please introduce yourself and spell your name?
Tayler Butler:
Hello, my name is Tayler, spelled T-A-Y-L-E-R.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha. Okay, good to know. Good to know.
Tayler Butler:
This is so weird. Sorry.
Jeff Williams:
No, it's okay. That's part of it is learning what is happening in here and feeling what it's like to be in the NPR Illinois studio once again in the studio with Jeff Lynn and his class from Ball Charter School.
Jeff Lynn:
And I'm so proud of the group we have today. This was a hot ticket item to get here. We had a competition where kids had to write a response about why they should be chosen. And then the finalists had to interview live in front of their class. to kind of get ready for this moment. It was so difficult. When the kids are engaged, they make these choices really challenging. So, I brought you too many.
Jeff Williams:
Right. Well, that's all right. That's all right.
Jeff Lynn:
How long have you been at Ball Charter?
Tayler Butler:
This year, one year.
Jeff Williams:
One year. This is your first year. Where did you go before that?
Tayler Butler:
I went to Franklin.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, Franklin, right on. Okay. Yeah.
Tayler Butler:
Franklin, I feel like I had more friends, but that was obviously because the amount, like the class size at Ball Charter is way smaller. But I do think it's better in a lot of ways because I think it's more concentrated in the way that I can get my work done a lot easier. And I think the curriculum is a lot more focused on individual assessment and needs rather than a whole big thing because it's hard for teachers at other middle schools to focus on every individual student. And I think I get that at Ball Charter.
Jeff Lynn:
So then, Taylor, you've worked with textbooks in class. How are you doing experiencing trying to read novels and respond to a longer subject?
Tayler Butler:
I think it's a lot better than having textbooks because I get the freedom to think for myself and I do whatever I want to do for class. Like an assignment that we have in class right now is that we read a book and we compare it to three different prompts, which I think is a lot better than just being told like you're writing this and you're comparing this. And textbooks, I don't really understand from textbooks. Like I can't just read something and then comprehend it and then put it like into writing or like summarize an answer with it. Like I just can't do that. So I think it's way better to pick what I want to read and what I want to comprehend. And like it helps me know my own strengths a lot better than I was just going by a certain like rule book.
Jeff Lynn:
What's the best book that you've read this year and why?
Tayler Butler:
Oh, I don't know. It's so hard to (decide). I think I'm just going to say ‘Speak.’ ‘Speak’ was my favorite, I think.
Jeff Lynn:
Laurie House Anderson's wonderful novel. And what'd you like about that? What was important?
Tayler Butler:
I thought it was like a glimpse into another person's life because the girl in the novel had something happen to her that's really traumatic and it helped me understand how people process things like that. It also gave a realistic view on how people cope with that kind of thing. Yeah, I also thought the writing was good. Yeah, it was really beautiful. I really liked it.
Jeff Lynn:
Tayler, I think your writing is really good. What's your best genre to write? You've written poetry and fiction and essays this year. What do you think is your stand?
Tayler Butler:
I think essay. I don't think I'm very creative. So, poetry wasn't really like good for me. And fiction, I had a bit of trouble finishing fiction because I would run into like blocks, like creative blocks basically where I would know what to write. But I think essays are good because I'm able to like really be informative and I think I'm good at that.
Jeff Lynn:
What's your children's book about?
Tayler Butler:
So, my children's book is about a shadow that wants to escape from like his I don't know how to, like his shadow owner. I don't really know what the word is, but because he's tired of like all physicalities and he's really lazy. So, he like escapes from the boy that he's like shadowing and he goes to like a park. Well, I'm kind of giving a summary.
Jeff Lynn:
That's okay.
Tayler Butler:
Well, he goes to a park and he meets a shadow of a really old tree and then the old tree convinces him to go back to his friend and then they live happily ever after.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. Wow. That's it. complex essay.
Jeff Lynn:
Yeah, what's the theme of a book like that?
Tayler Butler:
It's basically just to be happy with who you have and always be thankful for family because that's basically his family. Like that's just.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. Now I might have got confused about that. didn't seem like an essay to me. Is that considered an essay?
Jeff Lynn:
That was her children's book.
Jeff Williams:
The children's book. Okay, that's why I, yes, you did say that. That's right. I lost my mind for a minute. Right on. We're doing some rearranging in the NPR Illinois studio right now.
Jeff Lynn:
Will you please introduce yourself, sir?
Tyson Westerfield:
Hello, my name is Tyson James Westerfield, spelled T-Y-S-O-N.
Jeff Lynn:
How long have you been at Ball Charter, Tyson?
Tyson Westerfield:
I've been at Ball Charter for my entire educational career.
Jeff Williams:
Holy smokes.
Jeff Lynn:
What do you like best about Ball Charter?
Tyson Westerfield:
Honestly, I really enjoyed the smaller classroom sizes because it keeps people together and you're able to continue a friendship for longer in separate situations. there's also more of a community built with everybody being together. Like if you meet someone in one classroom, you're most likely to have them for multiple classrooms over.
Jeff Lynn:
Are there any detractions related to being in the same school since kindergarten?
Tyson Westerfield:
I would say that you sort of pick up on the idea that a lot of the things that began are the same way because of the same people. I've had situations where there were students who were problematic and they are still problematic to this day.
Jeff Lynn:
Say, what's the best book you've read this year?
Tyson Westerfield:
I would have to go with George Orwell's Animal Farm.
Jeff Lynn:
Holy smokes. Wow. Why?
Tyson Westerfield:
It's a very great tale talking about how restriction and protection over the idea of being free and creative is a hindrance to entire society and can also lead to misinformation such as with Snowball leaving Animal Farm but still being blamed for majority of the problems even though he was most likely dead.
Jeff Lynn:
What's your children's book about, Tyson?
Tyson Westerfield:
So my children's book is mainly about anthropomorphism. I'm giving inhuman characters human characteristics. My book is mainly about an egg known as egg guy and a pair of macaroni pieces known as the maccas. The entire book is mainly about separation and why we should be together. Many people act out in ways because they are separated from others. And I believe that if we are closer together, we will not act out in these same ways.
Jeff Williams:
That's a great observation.
Jeff Lynn:
Absolutely. And Tyson, you're also a very strong writer. What's your best genre?
Tyson Westerfield:
I would say for my best genre, I would have to go with fiction. I love the idea of being creative and making my own tales. However, I would say that I still need a little bit restriction, which I do not have in poetry.
Jeff Lynn:
Hey, Tyson, did you use AI to generate your images for your text?
Tyson Westerfield:
No, I actually made all the images myself. I believed that it would be better to show my creativity through my own creations, but instead of trying to have it be artificially generated. All the characters will match up because of course I've created them. But also I think it's a better way of showing what I believe because if there's a detail I wish to make, I can make it instead of hoping that an AI, which can only regurgitate other information that already exists, will just produce because it's unlikely that the AI will create something new.
Jeff Lynn:
How many children's books have you written?
Tyson Westerfield:
So far, I've written two children's books currently, my current one and a previous one about an element on the periodic table.
Jeff Lynn:
Which element did you choose?
Tyson Westerfield:
Uranium.
Jeff Williams:
Wow, right on. Man, oh man. Let me just also say this. I love the fact that there's different approaches, different perspectives on how to handle the illustrations in the books because that's just how life is. There's not one way this or one way that. It's just what a person thinks. thinks is best for them in this situation and what will work best. So, I love the fact that it wasn't all dictated one particular way. It's just what works best for the person, which is what life is kind of all about, where we all are kind of in it together. Some people do want to isolate from the togetherness and then sometimes that can be not so great. It's better to have the togetherness and to understand the differences. Once you understand the differences, you can appreciate them more and see things from another person's standpoint and feel empathy for that other side, even if you don't agree necessarily. Sorry, just blathered about something off script maybe.
Jeff Lynn:
No, but I think that's really valuable because that's where the kids are now in this process. Now they have prototypes of the book, and they've got to face the market. So, on Friday when we have reading buddies and little kids come in, they've got to deal with this editor, and they've got to think about what does the marketplace really want and what is my vision? And we've constantly got to battle that as creators. And I would just say, hey Tyson, what did you decide to do with the back cover?
Tyson Westerfield:
So, with the back cover, I was told about a person who used other AI generated images to act like they had previous books. And I was like, well, I already wrote a children's book. So what I did was I took a picture of the cover of my previous book and placed it on the back cover advertising my previous work because I actually did write a previous children's book. And I thought it would be an interesting way of referencing my previous work in a way which actually happens.
Jeff Lynn:
And it does. It looks so professional. It looks like it's off the shelf.
Jeff Williams:
Once again, in the studio with Jeff Lynn, Springfield Charter School.
Samera Smith:
I'm Samera Smith.
Phoenix Smith:
I'm Phoenix Smith.
Jeff Lynn:
I'm Jeff Lynn.
Tayler Butler:
I'm Taylor Butler.
Tyson Westerfield:
I'm Tyson Westerfield.
Jeff Williams:
Wow, well thank you all so much for coming in. This has been super exciting. I'll have some crazy editing to do, but I think I can handle it. Jeff threw me a curveball (laughter) and I kind of like it though, so that's cool. So, everybody, thank you very much and we'll all say bye at the same time. So, thank you.
Samera Smith:
Thank you. Bye.
Jeff Williams:
Thanks. Well, thank you. Was that cool with everybody then? A little different.
Jeff Lynn:
We've got another treat.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, do you?
Jeff Lynn:
Yeah, because we're out till 3.
Samera Smith:
Oh, dang. Oh, no.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, wow.
Samera Smith:
Oh, dang it. I missed more school. Oh, man, I missed more school. I really wanted to go to science.
Tyson Westerfield:
What about my educational performance?
Jeff Williams:
Love the subject. yeah, thanks a lot for sure. Definitely. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois.