Lakewood Ranch High School students visit Bashaw

Jaimie Gilmore was living life in reverse when she read her original storybook to William H. Bashaw Elementary kindergarteners.

Now a senior at Lakewood Ranch High School, Gilmore once attended Bashaw and remembers when high schoolers visited her classes to read their stories. 

"I remember it, and now actually doing it is cool," she said. "I love kids, so it was such an enjoyment."

Gilmore and her advanced English classmates visited Bashaw Friday, May 13, for a 30-year tradition, Winnie the Pooh and Shakespeare, Too. High schoolers write original stories that incorporate elementary curriculum — such as counting or measuring — or stories with life lessons and then share them with younger students. Gilmore's book, "No, Beau, No," was actually based on the behaviors of her older brother. He was always not doing what his mom told him to do, she said. Linda Schneider, a kindergarten teacher at Bashaw, laughed when she saw the title of the book. Beau Gilmore had been one of her students.