In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.
Granted there are many women who have done great, world changing things that deserve all the recognition they can get. But what about the many women doing great “small” things—teachers, mothers, workers, volunteers–who fly under the radar every day, but make a powerful impact in their little part of the universe?
Terri, Sherry & Herman Tweed
This month we introduce you to two such educators, creators of the Quirkles and Fuddlebrook Science series, who never intended to write books, promote science, or teach teachers about the power of storytelling combined with science and the impact it can have on young children. They just couldn’t find what they thought to be most effective—so they created it! While in the midst of “doing their day job” (teaching), they decided to form a curriculum development company focusing on fun, relevant science connected by storytelling and hands on application.
Terri Johnson was the developer of a private afterschool enrichment program. One early fall, while teaching a reading readiness class, she came up with the idea to tell stories about quirky little scientists using mainly the phonemic letter sound she was emphasizing that day. It would go something like this: “Ollie Oxygen was walking down Oxford Street with his friends the otter and the ox…” After the story the children would do a candle race or something to illustrate the science concept. Children and parents loved it!
So, she set out to find a similar curriculum. When she couldn’t find it, she went to her sister, Sherry Cook, a marketing/promotion professor, to help bring the idea to life. Sherry recalled a past student, Jesse Kuhn, whose illustrative style captured what they hoped to convey in what would become the Quirkles. The three connected and their ideas started coming to life.
Three years later, the 26-book series was first introduced. Now in its fourth reprint, the books and materials are in classrooms across the country and the apps are enjoyed worldwide.
Then the question became “now what?” A second series, Fuddlebrook, for slightly older children, followed and was introduced on the Quirkles 10th anniversary. This series introduced Herman Tweed, Mrs. Wigglebum, Principal Snizzle, Liza, Bert, and Freddie.
So while not exactly J.K. Rowling level, what can be taken from two “unintentional” curriculum developers? “We saw a need in Terri’s classroom, and then it became apparent it was much bigger than that. We jumped in. We weren’t afraid to take a risk and work very, very hard,” says Sherry.
Terri goes on. “These characters—Herman Tweed, Gilbert Gas, Ollie Oxygen are “family.” And the adventures they have afforded us, the places we’ve travelled, the people we’ve met. All the hard work has been so worth it!”
So if you’ve got an idea etched in your brain that you’re dying to try, take the advice of these two teacher/writers. Go for it! Make your ding, big or small, in the universe!