Kate Messner grew up in Medina, a small town in Western New York. She graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communication with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and worked as a television news producer and reporter in Syracuse, NY and then Burlington, VT, before going back to school to get a teaching degree. For the past twelve years, Kate has been a teacher of middle school English. In 2006, she earned National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts and frequently gives teacher workshops on technology integration, differentiating instruction, and of course, reading and writing across the curriculum.

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When I was a kid, I spent hours on end exploring the woods behind our house in Western NY. There was a footbridge that ran over a creek with lots of mud and crayfish, and I’d take my journal out and sit on the bridge to write poems. Then I’d catch some crayfish and garter snakes. Then I’d write more poems. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

When I came inside, I’d hang out in my room reading books by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. Sometimes, I’d get my hands on certain Judy Blume books before my mother thought I was ready for them, and then she’d confiscate them and hide them in the tall cupboard behind the extra boxes of Kleenex. Now I’m allowed to read whatever I want.

I always loved writing stories, but I never thought much about being an author when I was in school. I didn’t know any real authors, and I guess it never occurred to me that I could do it. My school guidance counselors told me journalism was a good job for people who liked writing, so that’s what I decided to study in college. I learned a lot in the seven years I worked in television, and I got to do some very cool things. I helped cover the 1992 presidential campaign in Vermont, so I got to meet people like Al Gore, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Barbara Bush. I also held a nine-foot-long python for a news story once. We had to keep shooting one part of the video over and over again because the python kept squirming all around and wrapping around my waist. I think it was getting hungry.

After almost seven years in television news, I was ready for a new challenge and had always loved working with kids, so I went back to college to get my teaching degree and found a job teaching English to middle school kids. It’s a great job because I get to spend my days reading and writing with my students.

When I’m not teaching or writing books, I’m usually hanging out with my family, taking my kids to soccer and ice skating practice, playing Scrabble, riding bikes, skiing, swimming, hiking, exploring, reading, and eating chocolate.

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