Hear What I Hear

A reserved ten-year-old boy known as "Win" has a great passion for playing musical instruments. Every year, he joins the afterschool program to learn how to play different instruments. Win learns to play an instrument that no other kid wants to learn to play. His teacher, Mr. Raymond, with his disability, finds a unique way to teach Win how to play the steel drum. Mr. Raymond helps Win with his confidence to play in front of people for the first time. Win imagines himself with Mr. Raymond's disability to perform and learns a valuable lesson that practicing helps him to get better but will not be perfect. Tressie Poole was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended "The School for Creative and Performance Arts" in her elementary through high school years. She played the flute and majored in instrumental music. Tressie also studied drama and art. After graduating from high school, her direction in life started in the work world at the Procter & Gamble Company-one of the largest international consumer goods companies in the world. While continuing in the workforce, she attended The University of Cincinnati and majored in Business administration. Ironically, her journey for writing began while attending college to improve in her writing skills. Even after finishing college, she continued her journal writing and it became therapy for her self-expression. Writing inspired Tressie to write about her childhood memories of playing pick-up-sticks, jacks and French jump roping. Tressie wishes to share some of her life changing events and her rememberable moments to readers.