Will YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

That's the question I asked a few hundred middle schoolers today. I got to visit my old home, Mountain View Middle School, for their annual Health Fair. Now, if you can remember back to your middle school days, the idea of a health fair doesn't exactly inspire excitement in your average 7th grader (although getting out of class is always nice). So, each organization that comes tries a different tactic to get the kids' attention for a few minutes. 

Giveaways, particularly candy, are always good, but many kids will just grab and go. My friend Maureen always has hula hoops, and they stay pretty busy with kids trying to best each other. Mike from the Space Hall had a mini operation center with realistic open torso, where kids could try to tie a knot with surgical instruments. The guys from HAFB always bring local critters in formaldehyde, plus their pet boa constrictor, which is TOTALLY cheating because it's not as if those are native (but yes I did go take it out and play with it before the kids came in).

Since the Library is all about feeding your brains, of COURSE we go with zombies! As kids (or adults) approach, I ask them how they think they would do in the zombie apocalypse. Answers range from a straightforward, "I would die. Quickly." to "Aw, man, I'd kill those zombies, I play Call of Duty ALL the time."

The latter group gets me mentally rubbing my hands together and laughing my evil laugh. First, I tell them, you have to make sure you will SURVIVE the first few days. You'll never get to shoot zombies if you do something dumb right off the bat. Let's see how you do on this quiz, shall we?

I had six questions from the Zombie Survival Guide, with answers on the flip side.

I picked ones that I thought would be good for discussion, and they were! It was fun listening to kids debate with their friends, and then discussing the 'whys' of each answer (do you know which of the above is correct?)*

Guessing they hit the Fire Department table first.

If they missed a bunch, I handed them a list of some of our zombie books, so they can come and brush up a bit! 

Then they could move on to firing practice.

Yes, I brought a gun to a middle school. And handed it to adolescent boys. It only shoots about two feet, though, and the bullets kept bending sideways, so I felt pretty safe. Especially after some of them looked down the barrel of the gun to see if it was loaded. "DUDE! You're not going to survive the week that way, let alone the apocalypse!" 

Overall, sixth grade boys and girls did evenly well. At seventh grade, girls became more thoughtful, while boys started showboating. By eighth grade, the girls were travelling in smaller groups, generally avoiding the boys, who...well...let's just say many of them will need some guidance during the zombie apocalypse. Some strong guidance. And for a few, possibly, a shock collar.

Of course, I also passed out candies ("Smarties or a Dum-Dum?") and flyers for upcoming events ("Did I mention we will have FOOD?"). I also got to network with a few of the other groups there, setting up some possible Summer Reading partnerships, and visit with teachers who stuck around a lot longer than I did. Thanks for having me, MVMS, it's a great way to spend a work day!

* A is the one you should NOT do. Zombies go down, so people need to go up. Stashing all your supplies in the basement would not seem like a good idea for very long.

Middle Schoolers and Zombies (was that redundant?)

With all the required testing and test prep and test review and...stuff that schools have to fit in, it is getting harder and harder to organizations like the library to get in and do outreach these days. When you get the chance, you jump on it, so I said of course we would take a table at the middle school health fair this week.

Then I had to figure out how I was going to get 450 teens to spend ten seconds at the library booth, when I was competing with the medics giving kids fake wounds, and the guys from base who had all sorts of desert critters with them (FYI, guys, a boa constrictor is NOT native to NM, and that is TOTALLY CHEATING! But, thanks for letting me hold her.) I'm not totally unfamiliar with the audience, I taught at this school when it first opened. So, what attracts middle schoolers?

A) Free candy

B) Zombies

I had this dress from a zombie prom we ran a couple years ago, and I love it SO much more than any other prom dress I ever wore! The picture doesn't show the shiny black clunky boots, which I also love. I didn't do much makeup, because I wasn't sure how receptive the faculty might be - and then I saw the group doing fake wounds. The kids all looked worse than me! Next time.

When kids approached my area, I was holding my tub of candy, and asked them if they were dum-dums or smarties.

In addition to fitting the theme, both are extremely cheap to buy in bulk. I did wander around after and pick up stray sucker sticks on the floor, so hopefully the custodians don't totally hate me.

Then I asked them how they thought they would do in the zombie apocalypse. The answers were mostly either, "I would totally kick a**", or "Die. I would die." I had six questions on my board, taken from the Zombie Survival Guide, with answers on the back, so I challenged them to test their knowledge. 

They were mostly questions you could argue, like "what is the best mode of transportation in a zombie apocalypse?" which offered some engagement. "Dude! A Tank? You'd be trapped! You can't maneuver, you can't get through tight spaces, and what happens when you run out of gas?"

I had printed lists of our zombie books to hand them, so they could brush up a bit. Almost everyone took one! Library card info, not so much, but a list of books about things that will chew my face off? Heck, yeah! There were also flyers about our upcoming tween event, and the CDC's graphic novel about zombie preparedness. As they were wrapping up, I would tell them, almost as an aside, "You know, I really don't care if you get these right. You are using your brain, which is making it grow, which means...more food for me!" (See, I was educational - using your brain makes it work better. End of health lesson.)

I had a great time. The kids were hilarious. Until...remember when I said I used to teach there? A seventh grader I didn't recognize gave me a hug and told me her name. I used to teach...her mother...in seventh grade. I. am. old.

Towards the end I was invited to go to the high school next month, which I have been trying to get to do for ages. Full makeup this time! I will also spruce my board up a bit, but for the most part this was an easy to set up and inexpensive outreach. And most of all, fun!