Jordanna: The STEAM Team Artist

Jordanna, our STEAM Team artist, makes her debut today.  If you're unfamiliar with the STEAM Team, we invite you to meet all of them:

• Silas, the Scientist
• Victoria, the Technologist
• Ashlynn and Alexander, the Engineers

If Jordanna's story is the one you're here to read, then please, don't let us stand in your way.  Find her story below.

               Jordanna had studied art for all her short-lived life, so far.  At the age of seven, she was one of the youngest children in training.  She was lucky to have been given access to several of the books which had come out of Old York.  Art was not a hobby, nor a job.  Art was life.  It spoke to her, told her what needed to happen, and her hands and artistic tools did the rest.  Some of the older kids told her she was a ‘natural’.  Her talent had been recognized by the Orphaned World Leaders (O.W.L.'s, for short), and she was given access to books and resources other kids would have died for.  She learned.  Now, after a year of reading and studying, she was ready for her first mission. 

               The O.W.L.'s had decided that she would help to camouflage a village that had random bots show up recently.  The village was important, it had orchards around it, and workable farm equipment.  This one village could provide a lot of food to the other villages, allowing the other villages to focus on more important things within their ability.  Jordanna had been called in because of some paintings she had done, which had hidden key entryways and some clothes which had been very useful to their scouts in evading the bots.  Jordanna loved a challenge.

               As she walked into the village, she could already tell it was going to be difficult.  The village was spread out and the houses were one-story.  There were trees throughout the village and they reached to the sky, high above the houses’ roofs.  They were brick houses, in an old English fashion.  The roads were cobbled with worn stone.  She observed all of these details in just a few minutes.  There was a plan forming in her head as she walked toward the leader of the village.  He was tall and had short-cropped red hair with green eyes.  “Hi, my name is Michael.”  He stretched his hand out to her in greeting.  She gripped his hand, finding it to be rough, probably from hard work with farm equipment.  “Hello, my name is Jordanna.  I have been sent here to help you.”  Michael smiled and opened his arms around him to show her the town that she had already taken in.  “This village needs to be less visible to bots, good luck….  If you need anything, just let me know.  You can stay in that cottage over there, by the oak tree."  

               She sighed and started toward the cottage. “I won’t need help until it’s time to start construction.  Goodbye Michael.”

               Jordanna didn’t get along with people.  They always assumed what she was doing before she finished, and they were usually wrong.  She always had a plan, always.  She had learned from the greatest artists the world had ever known, her favorite being Michaelangelo.  She was astounded by what that man’s faith helped him to accomplish.  Since then she had taken up her own faith in God.  If creation was his thing, then that was someone she could understand.  So far, her faith had gotten her stern looks from people that didn’t want to believe everything was going to be alright.  They were angry about their parents being taken from them.  She understood, but she had to move on, they all had to move on.  Rebuilding was a grand endeavor. 

               After she had put her things away, she started to walk around the town.  She noted that the wood of the trees was a mottled gray and black.  She asked some of the people who lived there what flowers grew here in the Spring, what the trails looked like when they were muddied, and what the leaves looked like when they fell in the Fall.  All of this painted a picture in Jordanna’s mind.  Her plan was set.  She went to find Michael.

               “Michael, I am ready for construction.  I will make a list of the resources needed and give it to you later tonight.”  Michael just stared at Jordanna, bewildered.  “Um, okay, that’ll be fine….”  She walked away quickly, back to her cottage.

               A week later the village was enshrouded by a large black wall of fabric.  There were thin ribbons that were held in tight loops, much like belts are worn.  Jordana had rotations of patterns, with the natural colors you could find throughout any of the seasons.  Within the village, at specific spots near the junction of two fabric walls, there were command boards.  The command board was made up of spools that could be turned with levers.  The specific color pattern would come up on each spool, giving the person knowledge of what the overall pattern looked like.  This camouflage was good for any season, on any day.  They just had to spool through the patterns until it looked like the surroundings. 

               Michael had heard that Jordanna had left town without saying goodbye to anyone.  Later, they found a note with her sincerest apologies.  She had received a message by carrier pigeon in the night.  The O.W.L.'s had heard of her success, and they needed her on a new, secret project. 

               Michael looked up at the sky.  He shook his head and laughed, “I’m glad I just run a village.”

We sincerely hope you (and your learners) enjoyed Jordanna's story.  Until next time, leaders, here's to living an inspired life!

At Your Service,

Looking for a place to kick back and relax while you read?  Then you want to stop by our Reading Nook where you'll find original Wolfe Stew literary works.