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Educator becomes children's book author

An educator from Schuylkill County who wrote a song to help children learn is now an author. Newswatch 16's Claire Alfree shares how a student inspired the teacher.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. — One of the ways Michelle Dallago teaches young children at the Perception Training Center is through music.

She sings a song called "I Can Do Anything" to motivate the students in her classroom every day. 

"The children will get me in the hallway and grab your guitar, and can we sing again? And it just kind of snowballed where they were singing it often, and then we sung it at graduation, and my husband said we gotta do something with this song," Dallago said.

When Dallago first wrote her song back in 2020, little did she know that two and a half years later, it would be published into a children's book.

"What I want children to do is to see themselves in this book. And think about what other things I can do that maybe aren't in the book, " Dallago said.

One of her students, Lucy, is featured in the story.

Lucy's mother says she was born with a physical disability and can do anything with the help of a prosthetic leg.

"Lucy would be there to represent so many kids that have different abilities. So I want for other kids to read the book and see the pictures that they are represented," said Dale Verchick of Pottsville.

Dallago says Lucy embodies the message of her book, empowering both children and parents that they can do anything.

"She has a lot to overcome, and the strength behind her and her family and what she's been through has been inspiring," Dallago said.

"Lucy might not have the same physical ability as somebody else, but I'm sure she has something else to give, and that's what the book is conveying," Verchick added.

There’s a wonderful place that you really should see called The Land of Hatchy Milatchy.

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