Rewarding Day

The sign our class painted, welcoming us.

My PencilPAL!

So I've talked before about being a BookPAL and how much I love it but this year I also became a PencilPAL.  This is through the same literacy program that the SAG Foundation runs.  As a PencilPAL, there is a fifth grade class that participates.  Each student is paired with a volunteer at the beginning of the school year and then you write to one another throughout the course of the year.  But you don't meet each other until the end of the year.  And yesterday was our big meet day!  It was so great to see all of the students and how excited they were to meet their PALs.  It was infectious!  They had painted signs for us that were all around the school and then each of them made us a personal welcome sign.  To discover who belonged to who, we played a fun game where we shared one fact about our PAL and then the student would reveal themselves.  I went up and said my student was a good sketch artist and they liked Pokemon.  As soon as I said the fact about Pokemon the whole class knew who my PAL was.  He is such a sweet kid, with a big smile and a big heart.  We talked about books and movies and then we all went to have a pizza party.  The teacher said that she has seen a real improvement in her students' writing abilities throughout the course of the year and she credits PencilPALs with helping her students grow.  It was so rewarding to be a part of this program and I really recommend it to my fellow actors who read this blog.

Last night I got to go to a panel with some of the actors from New Girl.  This was part of the Conversations series that SAG Foundation does (they do a lot of great things!).  Max Greenfield (Schmidt), Hannah Simone (Cece) and Lamorne Morris (Winston) were there, along with Seth Yanklewitz, the casting director of the pilot.  We heard more about their audition experiences for the show, the environment on the set and how much Lamorne loves the Miami Heat. When he learned that they lost last night, you would have thought his dog died.  He was also wearing a Heat t-shirt.  Made me think of my family...hope they were doing ok with the loss!  One tidbit I'll share from the night:  Hannah Simone talked about how she got called in for the role of Cece.  The previous pilot season, she had auditioned for another show that Seth cast.  She tested for a role but didn't book it.  When New Girl came along, Seth remembered her and called her in.  She said, "You never know what role you're actually auditioning for."  It can't be said enough!  You may not get cast initially but if you give it all you got...you'll book the room.  Then, when the right role comes along, the groundwork has been laid.