Dean Pitchford does a Zoom Chat about his book, THE BIG ONE-OH, with North Carolina students during

Recently we were contacted by a teacher in North Carolina who wanted to arrange a Zoom chat between her fourth graders and Dean Pitchford, author of THE BIG ONE-OH (Puffin Books/Penguin), as well as CAPTAIN NOBODY (Putnam/Penguin) and NICKEL BAY NICK (Puffin Books/Penguin). At first we weren't sure if it would be possible because of the immediacy of the request coming during the midst of the pandemic, but happily it proved to be easily arranged. Even the technology was cooperative.

After the Zoom chat, we received an email from Amanda Fields, the teacher who made it happen, and we'd like to share it with you now:

“As a fourth-grade public school teacher in Weaverville, NC, my students have been completing digital learning at home. One of the things that keeps them coming back each day is when I read aloud THE BIG ONE-OH. It’s the one thing students request and look forward to, almost as an escape from quarantine. Sensing that my students needed some extra encouragement and hope during this pandemic, I thought, “How cool would it be if Dean would Zoom with our class?” When I emailed Balkin Buddies to ask if Dean Pitchford would be willing to Zoom with our classroom, I wasn’t sure if I would even get a reply.

“I quickly received a phone call, and the Zoom meeting was scheduled for the following week. My students immediately delved into learning about Dean’s life and incredible accomplishments so that we were even more prepared for our Zoom session. My students were amazed by Dean, and a few told me that they were so excited they couldn’t sleep the night before our Zoom. After reading Dean’s biography, one student wrote, “When I read the article, I found it surprising that he did not just write books. This surprised me because before I read more info about him, I just thought that he was just a plain author. So, when I found out that he was also a screenwriter, songwriter and author I was shocked.” There certainly isn’t anything plain about Dean Pitchford.

“On the day of our Zoom chat, my students were so eager to meet Dean. We knew about Dean’s incredible accomplishments: an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards. But when we started to Zoom, the humble, intelligent and relatable Dean entered our hearts. We listened to his incredible stories focused on inspiration and his perseverance. These were real-life themes that students needed to hear, especially during this time. Dean talked about how to try new things, face challenges and continuously strive to learn new things at any point in our lives. Dean has received so many awards and accolades, but we also needed to hear how he’s worked incredibly hard and has had to overcome rejection along the way. Dean connected with my students in a way that they will treasure for years to come, and I am so grateful for his time and compassion.

Here are samples of some of the thank you notes the students sent to Dean:

Thank you for sharing your impressive life time. I would love to grow up like you did. Writing is so important because you can make a book about you or anything you want. Thank you for your amazing story!

Thanks so much for zooming with us Dean! I really appreciate it, like I've never talked to someone famous or someone who made my moms favorite movie/ Footloose which is really good and quite catchy. I would give it an A++ if I was the person grading the song :) and once again I really appreciate that you took time off to zoom with us Dean! Did I say I appreciate it?

Dear Dean pichford...I loved your book the big one oh! It was so exciting. Have a great day! Love kaia

Dear Dean Pitchford...I really appreciate you doing that for us. Also you are an amazing author/songwriter/writer/advertiser.

From Stanley: You were nice to us and everything...

Dear Mr. Dean, Thank you for taking the time to tell and teach us about your life and how you became an author and became an actor. I really like the Big One Oh.

I enjoyed learning about your book The Big One-Oh and your life about how you knew what you wanted to do later in life. The “Zoomsical” of The Big One-OH! is very good.

I loved that you did the zoom with us and told your life story from the funny things to the sad things. But the thing that got me the most when i asked the question you said that I've never been asked that question that peculiar way before, that will be with me forever.

Thank you Mr. Pitchford for sharing your amazing story of where you grew up and when you started writing stories...

It was awesome meeting you. I’m sorry about your sister. You wrote a really good book. It is so good, I had no idea what was coming next! Thank you for visiting with us, it was a once in a lifetime experience...Thanks again!!

Dear Mr.Pitchford...Thank you so much for telling us all about you. I have read part of your biography but none of it was as detailed as what you said. I like how you answered everyone's questions and then told us more about your life. I'm so glad you could come...

Thank you Mr. Dean Pitchford for coming to see our class. It was very nice of you to tell us your story. I liked your claw movie story. It was very funny...

It was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for sharing all about The Big One Oh...

I really liked you being there because this was the first time I ever met someone famous...Your friend, Nolan

If any other teachers would like to arrange a Zoom or Skype chat with Dean Pitchford, feel free to contact Balkin Buddies. We'll be glad to help. And Dean would love to connect with your students!