It was a birthday Deanna Baukol won’t soon forget. Baukol was teaching her third grade class at Roosevelt Elementary School Thursday morning when she was surprised with a trio of special visitors: her longtime friend Karen Holt, son Tyler and children’s author Debbie Hoven, whom Baukol had known since their days as fellow teachers at Minnewaska Elementary School in Glenwood. “It’s a great surprise,” Baukol said, adding that she had absolutely no idea of the turn her day would take that morning. “Tyler is really good at keeping a secret,” she said with a laugh. But she also became quite emotional when talking about why the surprise was so special to her. “It’s been a rough year,” Baukol said, referring to the fact that she had lost her husband Steven to cancer this past October. “It’s just nice to have something positive happen.” Holt said she and the Baukols became friends when their families were all living in Starbuck (where Holt still resides). She was inspired to do something special for her longtime friend after going to a recent book signing event for Hoven. “Deanna is a very good friend of mine, and I just really wanted her to have a special day - I thought she needed a day brightener,” Holt said. Knowing how much Baukol loved teaching, and how important her students were to her, she thought a class visit from Hoven would be the perfect present, so the two put their heads together and began trying to schedule a day for the visit. “We’ve been trying to find a day since before Christmas,” Holt said. Eventually, they settled on Baukol’s birthday as the perfect time to spring the surprise on her, after coordinating the visit with Roosevelt’s administration and staff.
They also enlisted the help of Deanna’s son Tyler, an aspiring elementary teacher who sometimes helps his mother out in her classroom when he’s home from Valley City (where he’s currently attending college). “He was very excited for his mom,” Holt said. “He just wanted her to have a joyful day.” Mission accomplished. Baukol was all smiles - mixed with a few tears - during the trio’s visit to her classroom. Her students were also quite excited to have so many unexpected visitors, but they were downright ecstatic when Baukol told them to put their work away in their desks while their guests were there, shouting “Yay!” as they did so. The students were then treated to special cupcake treats, courtesy of their visitors, and a presentation from Hoven about how she came to write her first book, “Light Up the Year.” She had always contemplated writing a book, but it wasn’t until she took a class from her favorite children’s author, Nancy Carlson, that Hoven became inspired to write one of her own - a book about Christmas lights who refuse to go back in the box after the holidays. Hoven, who was a teacher for 40 years at schools in Alexandria (where she still lives), Villard and Glenwood, Minn., showed pictures of the tree in her classroom and how she would decorate it for all the holidays, not just Christmas. Hoeven was taking Carlson’s class in January, so as she was taking the lights down from her garage door, she suddenly had an idea for the subject of her first children’s book. “I felt so sad every time every time I had to take the lights down (after Christmas),” she said, because it made everything seem so much darker outside. She thought that maybe there might be other people who felt that way, which led to the idea of a story about some holiday lights refusing to go back in their box - and instead going on an adventure that leads them through an entire calendar year. Hoven illustrated the book herself, despite having some misgivings about her lack of experience. “I draw like a kindergartner,” she laughed - but added that her fellow class participants, and Carlson herself, said that would be perfect for a children’s book. Now that her first book has been published, Hoven is working on a second one, “Norman Loves the Lake,” which features her black Labrador retriever, Norman. She showed the class several pictures of Norman and said she’s busy trying to learn how to draw him. After she was done with her presentation, Hoven answered a few questions for the students, then left them to enjoy their treats before going back to their regularly scheduled lesson. “It really was a nice day for Deanna,” Holt said, adding, “They’re awesome, wonderful people and this has been such a tough road for them. “Steve truly loved and cared about people, he was so unique and amazing. He went through this horrible journey (with cancer) and he never complained.… Deanna was so strong for him, and continues to be so strong. I just wanted to bless her in some way.” Follow Detroit Lakes Newspapers reporter Vicki Gerdes on Twitter at @VickiLGerdes.It was a birthday Deanna Baukol won’t soon forget.Baukol was teaching her third grade class at Roosevelt Elementary School Thursday morning when she was surprised with a trio of special visitors: her longtime friend Karen Holt, son Tyler and children’s author Debbie Hoven, whom Baukol had known since their days as fellow teachers at Minnewaska Elementary School in Glenwood.“It’s a great surprise,” Baukol said, adding that she had absolutely no idea of the turn her day would take that morning.“Tyler is really good at keeping a secret,” she said with a laugh.But she also became quite emotional when talking about why the surprise was so special to her.“It’s been a rough year,” Baukol said, referring to the fact that she had lost her husband Steven to cancer this past October. “It’s just nice to have something positive happen.”Holt said she and the Baukols became friends when their families were all living in Starbuck (where Holt still resides).She was inspired to do something special for her longtime friend after going to a recent book signing event for Hoven.“Deanna is a very good friend of mine, and I just really wanted her to have a special day - I thought she needed a day brightener,” Holt said.Knowing how much Baukol loved teaching, and how important her students were to her, she thought a class visit from Hoven would be the perfect present, so the two put their heads together and began trying to schedule a day for the visit.“We’ve been trying to find a day since before Christmas,” Holt said.Eventually, they settled on Baukol’s birthday as the perfect time to spring the surprise on her, after coordinating the visit with Roosevelt’s administration and staff.
They also enlisted the help of Deanna’s son Tyler, an aspiring elementary teacher who sometimes helps his mother out in her classroom when he’s home from Valley City (where he’s currently attending college).“He was very excited for his mom,” Holt said. “He just wanted her to have a joyful day.”Mission accomplished. Baukol was all smiles - mixed with a few tears - during the trio’s visit to her classroom.Her students were also quite excited to have so many unexpected visitors, but they were downright ecstatic when Baukol told them to put their work away in their desks while their guests were there, shouting “Yay!” as they did so.The students were then treated to special cupcake treats, courtesy of their visitors, and a presentation from Hoven about how she came to write her first book, “Light Up the Year.”She had always contemplated writing a book, but it wasn’t until she took a class from her favorite children’s author, Nancy Carlson, that Hoven became inspired to write one of her own - a book about Christmas lights who refuse to go back in the box after the holidays.Hoven, who was a teacher for 40 years at schools in Alexandria (where she still lives), Villard and Glenwood, Minn., showed pictures of the tree in her classroom and how she would decorate it for all the holidays, not just Christmas.Hoeven was taking Carlson’s class in January, so as she was taking the lights down from her garage door, she suddenly had an idea for the subject of her first children’s book.“I felt so sad every time every time I had to take the lights down (after Christmas),” she said, because it made everything seem so much darker outside.She thought that maybe there might be other people who felt that way, which led to the idea of a story about some holiday lights refusing to go back in their box - and instead going on an adventure that leads them through an entire calendar year.Hoven illustrated the book herself, despite having some misgivings about her lack of experience.“I draw like a kindergartner,” she laughed - but added that her fellow class participants, and Carlson herself, said that would be perfect for a children’s book.Now that her first book has been published, Hoven is working on a second one, “Norman Loves the Lake,” which features her black Labrador retriever, Norman.She showed the class several pictures of Norman and said she’s busy trying to learn how to draw him.After she was done with her presentation, Hoven answered a few questions for the students, then left them to enjoy their treats before going back to their regularly scheduled lesson.“It really was a nice day for Deanna,” Holt said, adding, “They’re awesome, wonderful people and this has been such a tough road for them.“Steve truly loved and cared about people, he was so unique and amazing. He went through this horrible journey (with cancer) and he never complained.… Deanna was so strong for him, and continues to be so strong. I just wanted to bless her in some way.”Follow Detroit Lakes Newspapers reporter Vicki Gerdes on Twitter at @VickiLGerdes.
