Phyllis Hall Meets Woodruff Elementary Students

Utah State University First Lady Phyllis Hall recently visited students in Mrs. Ure’s 4th grade class at Woodruff Elementary School in Logan. A discussion of geography, history, literature and more was combined with a reading from the Walter Dean Myers book Harlem. The book includes illustrations by the author’s son, Christopher.

The book has been adapted into a stage work, and a touring company is coming to the Ellen Eccles Theatre from the Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration on Tour to perform the piece. Translated for stage, the work provides impressions of growing up in Harlem and includes a narrator and a live jazz band, with colorful images on a rear screen. The play is part of the theatre’s Family Events programming.

In addition to experiencing the book with Mrs. Hall, the children will have the opportunity to see the work on stage at the Ellen Eccles Theartre — they are one of a group of 962 elementary and middle school students attending a free matinee performance of Harlem Jan. 21.

Phyllis Hall has a bachelor’s degree in library science and in education. She has been a classroom teacher for more than 20 years and directed a library media center at an elementary school in Raleigh, N.C., prior to moving to Logan.