Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-up

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Text copyright © 2009 by Melissa Thomson Pictures copyright © 2009 by Frank Morrison

 

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thomson, Melissa, date.
Keena Ford and the field trip mix-up / by Melissa Thomson ;
pictures by Frank Morrison.
p. cm.
Summary: Keena and her second-grade class go on a field trip to the
United States Capitol where they meet a congressman and Keena makes a
big impression, which she documents in her new journal.

eISBN : 978-1-101-08223-2

[1. School field trips—Fiction. 2. United States Capitol
(Washington, D.C.)—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. African Americans—Fiction.
5. Diaries—Fiction.] I. Morrison, Frank, date, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.T37195Kd 2009
[Fic]—dc22
2008018438

To Pete, Mom, Dad, and Twink
—M.T.

 

To my daughter Nia “Super-Boo” Morrison
—F.M.

I’m Keena Ford, and I’m the most important person in this journal because it’s MY journal. This is my second journal. I got a new journal because I wrote in the old one so much that I filled it right up.

I actually got my new journal a few days before I finished my old one. I got it when we had to go to the bookstore so my brother, Brian, could get a thesaurus for middle school. I was very excited to go pick out Brian’s thesaurus because I thought maybe it was a kind of dinosaur or a lizard, like a stegosaurus, which is the best kind of dinosaur. But it turns out a thesaurus is just a book of words that mean the same thing as other words. For example, some words that mean the same thing as “quiet” are “still,” “restful,” and “silent.” I told these to Brian when I was reading out of his thesaurus in the bookstore and he told me in a very mean voice to be quiet.

I found out there is no other word for “thesaurus” in the thesaurus.

My new journal is so cool. It has a picture of clouds and rainbows and angels on the cover. Brian said, “There is no WAY I would ever write in a girly-looking journal like that.” And I said, “Good, because it is not yours.” I thought that was a pretty good one, but Brian just stuck his tongue out at me and then Dad said it was time to go. He drove us back to our apartment in Washington, DC, where we live with our mom during the week.

On the way to DC, we listened to the radio in Dad’s car. We always listen to Dad’s favorite radio station, which is just talking and no music. I think it is about the news and how much traffic there is and stuff like that. Brian used to ask if we could listen to music, and Dad said that when Brian grows up and gets a job and buys his own car, he can listen to whatever radio station he wants. Brian calls Dad’s radio station “I Know That’s Radio,” because when the radio people talk about the government or the news, Dad says, “I know that’s right!” I Know That’s Radio is really boring, but it is funny to hear Dad talk back to the radio people.

I am glad that I am starting my new journal today, because today is a VERY important day. It is the day of the class elections for student council! The kids on the student council are kind of like the bosses of school activities like the bake sale and Spaghetti Night. The kids on student council also get to go to meetings three times a year. And the meetings are RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL DAY. I know all about student council because this fifth grader named Lamont who walks me home was on student council last year.

Brian says that second graders are too little to be on student council, but what does he know? I think I will be a very good helper with the bake sale and Spaghetti Night, and that is why I am running for student council. “Running” for student council doesn’t mean you are really running on your two feet, it just means that you are trying out. There are three other people who are trying out, but only one of us gets to be on student council. The person who gets the most votes gets to be the delegate, and the person with the second-most votes gets to be the alternate, which means that they go to the meetings if the delegate gets the flu and has to stay home or is in time-out when it is time for the meeting. The other people who are running are Tiffany Harris, Shay Jackson, and Royann Jones. Tiffany and Shay are best friends, and Royann is new this year.

If you want to be on student council, you have to make a poster saying why people should vote for you, and then you have to make a little speech about yourself. My best friend Eric came over last night to help me make my poster and write my speech. Eric lives in the apartment right above ours.

Eric is not in my class. He is in the second-grade class for boys. My class has all girls and no boys because our principal put boys and girls in different classrooms. Eric is not running for student council in his class, because hisfriend Chad promised to give Eric two brownies on Friday if Eric wouldn’t run against him.

My mom got a big piece of poster board for me. I put the poster board on the kitchen table, and I got my markers and crayons out of my art box. Eric and I stared at the poster board for a while. We were trying to think up what to write.

“Chad already brought his poster to my class,” Eric said.

“What did it say?” I asked.

“It said, ‘Vote for Chad and You will be Glad,’” Eric told me.

“Hmmm,” I said. “We should think of something that rhymes with Keena.”

“Or Ford,” Eric said. He got a piece of paper out of his backpack. “Let’s make a list of ideas,” he said. I started saying words that rhymed with my last name and Eric wrote them down. I said snored, sword, roared, scored, and ignored.

“Florida,” Eric said.

“That doesn’t really rhyme,” I told him. We kept thinking.

“I’ve got it!” I said. “How about ‘You won’t be BORED if you vote for Keena FORD’?”

“I like it,” Eric said.

We wrote the words carefully on the poster board. Then we drew a bunch of smiling kids. Eric drew one girl who was sleeping, then he crossed her out to show that people would NOT be bored if they voted for me. After drawing for almost one whole hour, Eric’s dad called and said it was time for Eric to come home.

“Thank you for your help, Eric,” I said.

“Your poster looks very good,” he told me. “I think you will be the champion of the class election.”

“Queen champion!” I said. “I hope so.”

When it was time for bed I whispered my speech six times to myself. Then as I fell asleep I imagined what it would be like if I won. It would be so cool.

This morning I brought in my poster and showed it to the class. I was the first person to give my speech. I was very nervous, and I couldn’t really talk at first. “I . . . I . . .” I said. I looked out at my class and saw my friend Linny Berry. She gave me a thumbs-up, and I felt a little bit better. “I’m Keena Ford and I want to be YOUR student council person,” I said. I pointed my finger when I said YOUR, which I had practiced. Then I talked about how I would be a good listener and try to stay out of time-out so that I could go to the student council meetings. I also talked about how I would be a good helper at Spaghetti Night.