When I invited Stan Tucker to drop in to play ball with my basketball group, I didn’t expect him to show up. After all, he’s exceptionally busy traveling around the country with his Leap For Literacy program, getting books in the hands of young readers with his Read’n Roll Book Mobile, and hosting his television show, The Very Airy Library, all while writing inspiring picture books of his own. Stan is a very busy man!
Yet show up he did. That’s the kind of person he is. Stan Tucker shows up.
Stan was scheduled to spend the day at my elementary school teaching our kids about kindness and work ethic while encouraging them to read. Because he’d visited a year earlier, I knew he’d played college hoops. Wanting him to feel welcome in our community, I invited him to get up before dawn to run up and down the court with us. It was a lot to ask, so as I said, I didn’t really expect him to show up.
Despite knowing he’d be spending the next ten hours working with students in our school, he popped his head into our middle school gym. “I haven’t played in at least six years,” he said, “and for shoes, all I’ve got are these Chuck Taylors, but I thought I could come down and shoot around with y’all.”
We quickly pushed him out there, and like the rest of us, he put in his 3 to 5 miles of court time. Then, an hour later, he was at our elementary school impressing and inspiring our staff and students.
Stan is my kind of people, and I’ll bet he’s yours to, so I encourage you to check out his work. I can’t promise he’ll be able to join you for basketball, but I can say with certainty that you’ll love having him at your school. Find out more by clicking here.
Also, thank you Eileen B., Lit with Lyns, Melissa C., Shelby J., Candy M., Heidi P., Nicole W., Sherry D., Jarmese R., Melissa N., and Amanda M. for your recent 5-star reviews of my plays and products on TpT! June 19th will be here before you know it, so be sure to download my inspiring Juneteenth play soon!
Happy directing!
Mackowiecki Lewis 