Observations from my Backpack

Why now?  In assembling THE BOOK, my personal memories, I reached out to many, and one that responded was a colleague that we had worked with at the GI Film Festival in Washington, DC many years back.  It was a great experience as the "backpackers" attended the film screenings and held interviews. Today, she is with the Gary Sinise Foundation.  A reflection:  So many people today were not born on that day in September 11, 2001.  The aftermath changed our nation.  I was in our editorial offices for the PC Teach It Magazine in the customer service area.  We had televisions up mounted on the wall and watched in honor as the first plane went into the tower.  Then the second.  We sent all home following. I called my daughter.  She was in 100 miles away, and immediately she went home, and a  closest friend came to stay.  I packed a bag and drove to Columbia to be with my family.  Fear, we were headed into war and what was next? The day continued and our nation was clearly under at

  This book is our "Pay it forward" - an inspiration for teachers and parents and those who work with children/kids in the afterschool or camps.  We provide lesson plans and templates of easy use and reproduction. The first half of the book, we share how we served military kids all around the United States and then came home to Charleston, and had the help of Mayor Joe Riley to integrate into the Charleston Promise Neighborhood. During our time serving the inner city kids, we covered the city, and within the pages of this book and our video pages, we share alot about the historical values of Charleston.   Charleston RiverDogs are within the pages, along with Larry Doby Lesson Plan, and interview with Mike Veeck. New book (237 pages) is out on August 12.   "A Backpack Journalist"  - stories about youth impacted by the program, plus lesson plans and templates, and a review by *Dr. Fred Medway on the positive effects of this afterschool program and a military support p