West Elementary welcomed Miss Middle Tennessee Karissa Wheeler to its Family Reading Night on Thursday where she was the guest author and gave a special presentation to afterschool program kids.
Wheeler was recently crowned Miss Middle Tennessee and is passionate about the arts. She is a professional actor, singer, and dancer and she decided to share her love of the arts with the kids at West Elementary before Family Reading Night on Thursday.
“The arts have the capacity to be a powerful vehicle for change within our culture. Through my afterschool arts education initiative, my goal is for students to be introduced to the transformative power of art, equipping them with the skills they need to be world-changers,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler taught students different dance moves used in musical theater and she taught them about improv acting. She invited students to come up and act out different scenarios.
A few students were assigned an occupation and the scenario is they were all locked in a room together. She also taught the students the “Yes, and” rule of improv acting where you always have to agree with what your improv partner is saying and add onto it.
The library was later packed full of students and parents to hear Wheeler read her book, “Reveal of the Royal Puppy.” Wheeler brought her dog and inspiration behind the book, Chai Rose, with her to the reading.
“This book, ‘Reveal of the Royal Puppy,’ is my baby,” said Wheeler during her reading. “I wrote this over the course of 2020 and it was published last May.”
Her book is all about learning the importance of having a grateful heart. After she read the book she asked the kids what they were grateful for. The kids had a variety of answers for her including their siblings, the game Minecraft, and their whole family. The kids also asked her why she got her puppy.
“I got Chai Rose last January. I was in New York pursuing acting and do you know how you all start really looking forward to something and then it doesn’t happen? And then you get kind of disappointed, right? So I was feeling really sad because everything I had planned didn’t really work out and so do you have a counselor at your school? Well I was talking to my counselor and she said I think you need a puppy to help,” said Wheeler to the kids.
The book reading was a hit and some students even had Wheeler sign their notebooks and books. After the reading, the kids played Bingo for Books for a chance to win some books.
