Stories from the Writing Journey
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Helping Future Peacemakers Understand the Past. A True Story Tells it Best.
by Joanie Schirm on November 4, 2015 PermalinkFrom the moment I read the last letter that my grandfather Arnošt wrote to my dad, I knew it held meaning beyond the four walls of my writing room. Dated April 21, 1942, just three days before Arnošt and my grandmother Olga Holzer were taken from Prague on a Nazi transport to their deaths, the
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World Teachers’ Day: Thank you Ms. Bixby – A Teacher Who Touched my Heart
by Joanie Schirm on October 4, 2015 PermalinkOn October 5, 2015, take the time to celebrate World Teachers’ Day by remembering the educators who made a difference in your life through their passion for teaching. Growing up in Melbourne, FL, USA, I was fortunate to have several teachers that touched my life in a special way. Mrs. Maddox helped me learn in
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Lesson Plans from Life – Making it Matter
by Joanie Schirm on August 18, 2015 PermalinkLESSON PLANS FROM LIFE – MAKING IT MATTERFrom: Joanie Holzer Schirm, Orlando Author: Adventurers Against Their Will (AATW) Lesson Plan: www.joanieschirm.local/teachers “Hopefully, education and knowledge of history linked together with pure compassion and humanity will let us recognize the origins of old-new dangers and tie down the demons of hatred and evil before they grow
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Help Build Confidence in a Writer
by Joanie Schirm on February 14, 2015 PermalinkHelp Build Confidence in a Writer…An Evening of Readings February 20, 2015 at Florida Institute of Technology Evans Library… What does a Shuttle astronaut, an honorary Brevard County Historian, the wife of a Florida former poet laureate and Joanie Holzer Schirm have in common? Nothing that I, Joanie, can figure out until February 20, 2015
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Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! 2015 Kicks off in Orlando!
by Joanie Schirm on January 27, 2015 PermalinkJanuary 26, 2015: On a perfect sunny day, with music, dance, drama, and book character impersonations, students, staff and dignitaries from Orange County, Florida’s Timber Creek High School kicked off Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! Florida Department of Education’s annual event celebrates the tremendous success Florida’s students have accomplished over the past decade. Recognizing “reading accelerates
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Earned Title: Author
by Joanie Schirm on January 12, 2015 PermalinkEarned Title: Author Seven years ago, January 11, 2008, I sold my Orlando engineering company. Having left behind the lofty title of President, I entered my next life chapter with a goal: Published Author. It was a position title I had to earn. Befuddled as to how to describe my new endeavor, my husband Roger
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Inspiration for my fateful journey
by Joanie Schirm on December 1, 2014 PermalinkInspiration for my fateful journey When you’re an author of nonfiction, reader feedback inspires when you learn you’ve touched a personal chord within someone’s life. Lately, a couple of heartwarming book reviews of Adventurers Against Their Will, remind me the day-in, day-out grueling research and study is well worth this fateful writing journey. From Judith
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“Shout for Freedom”
by Joanie Schirm on November 20, 2014 Permalink“Shout for Freedom” A memory from the Velvet Revolution – Twenty-Five years ago – Czechoslovakia, November, 1989 I have a memory that embodies the emotions I felt when my dad’s native land, Czechoslovakia, recovered their freedom. After forty-one years of communist rule, in what is now known as the “Velvet Revolution,” a brave country shouted