TEMPLE, Texas — Third and fourth graders across Temple Independent School District are getting the opportunity to meet a published author and learn more about military life and culture at the same time as a Central Texas author visits each TISD elementary campus this week.
Sarah Doran is a children’s author based in Belton who has published two books and has another in production with an anticipated publishing date this spring. Doran is visiting each of the eight elementary schools in Temple ISD to share her experiences with those third and fourth graders. Doran grew up in a military family, and later served in the U.S. Army as a solider, helicopter mechanic, and crew chief. She taught the students some military signals, an airborne cadence, and the differences between Apache, Blackhawk, and Chinook helicopters during her presentation.
Doran also explained some of the different aspects of military life and how those experiences helped shape and inspire her books. She read her books “The Peppered Sky” and “Sleeping Giants” to the students and Doran says she hopes that those stories help students develop more of an understanding for military families and some of the situations they deal with.
“I love being able to help kids experience something they may not be familiar with,” Doran said. “The military is something that a lot of kids are not very familiar with. So, it is super fun to be able to give kids that experience through these stories. I want to instill in them an appreciation for the armed services and a sense of patriotism.”
Doran also shared with students about how she became a writer and gave them advice on ways they can help share their own stories with others.
Temple ISD coordinator of library services Sherry Burnett helped arranged Doran’s tour of TISD elementary schools as part of the district’s literary partnership with Altrusa International. She says the visits give students a chance to see what they have in common with authors and learn from Doran’s unique perspective.
“I think this gives the students a chance to see that authors are real people, just like them,” Burnett said. “They also learn that authors are right here in Central Texas. She is a former Army mechanic, and she is a woman. I think it is good for the kids to see that there are different opportunities that people sometimes pigeonhole as a man’s job or male perspective, and so I think it is really good for them to see that.”
Doran’s visits are part of her “Igniting Young Minds” book tour. She visited Jefferson Elementary School, Hector P. Garcia Elementary School, and Raye-Allen Elementary School on Tuesday. There are six more presentations scheduled to cover the other Temple ISD elementary schools on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.