Balliett spends year writing as Mary Williams Award winner

As the first recipient of the Mary Williams Professional Development Award, Blue Balliett has spent a year on a leave of absence writing books for children.

"It's been a very exciting year for me," she said. "Teaching has taught me such a huge amount about how people process and learn through hands-on experience, and I've been wanting to share in writing some of what I've been taught by children. Although my other books are oral histories, I wanted to see if I could communicate my thinking through fiction, in a way that would be easy for children to access."

Balliett explained that she has become very intrigued with children's appreciation of aesthetics. "They have very definite likes and dislikes when faced with museum-quality art, and their insights and appreciation are often stunning and always fresh," she said. "Using fiction, I've been working on creating an environment and situation in which children assimilate real art into their lives on their own terms."

Balliett has completed the manuscript for a middle school-aged book, a mystery that revolves a-round the theft of a Vermeer painting. The mystery is set in Hyde Park, and the students are similar to Lab students. She is working with an agent and is about to choose a publisher.

Also this year, she has written three fiction picture books, all centering around issues of children's relationships to art. "Again, the Lab world is very recognizable," Balliett said.

"I've missed teaching this year, though, and am already full of ideas and questions for next year's third-graders," she said.

The Mary Williams Professional Development Award was established by Dan Rudolph, '74, in memory of a beloved and long-time Lab teacher who died in March 2000. Many alumni, parents, and other friends of the Schools have made gifts to the Schools in her memory.

This annual award is dedicated to Mary Williams in honor of her wonderful teaching ability, humor, and attentiveness to the needs of students. A recipient will be selected from the Lower and Middle Schools each year by the Director and the principals of the Lower and Middle Schools.