Two years ago, six-year-old Sam Pointon landed his dream job at the National Railway Museum in England. He became the museum’s Director of Fun, a position he still holds today.
While on holiday with his family, his father noticed in the newspaper that Andrew Scott would be retiring after 15 years of being the museum director.
Sam’s hobby was trains. He loved everything about them. He wrote a letter to the museum to apply for Andrew Scott’s old position. In his application he wrote, “I am only six but I think I can do this job.”
He also mentioned his interest in trains: “I have been on lots of trains including Eurostar and some trains in France. I have visited the museum before. I loved watching the trains go round on the turntable.”
Scott was delighted to read his letter and was glad to “see such young children with a real passion for trains.”
The museum employees loved Sam’s enthusiasm so much that they in
vited him and his family to the museum. They didn’t give him Andrew Scott’s old job, but they did hire him as their Director of Fun.
His job is to make sure the museum is as fun and family-friendly as possible. There is even a section on the museum’s website where people can make suggestions to Sam and receive a response from him.
Although Sam is happy doing “the best job in the world,” Sam’s parents have told him that he still needs to go to school.
Related Links
Here’s the link to the National Railway Museum‘s website.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Sam’s role is to be the Director of Fun at the museum. If you were the Director of Fun at your school, what events and activities would you plan for the students in every grade?
Reading Prompt
The article explains that Sam loves trains. In fact, trains are his hobby – something he loves to do in his free time.
Do you have a hobby? If so, what is it and why do you enjoy doing it?
If you don’t have a hobby, is there an activity that you would like to do as a hobby? Why did you pick this particular activity?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them read a variety of texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts, graphic texts and informational (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Noun
A noun – a person, place or thing – is a part of speech. Underline or highlight all of the nouns in the article. Next to each noun, write if it is a person, place or thing.
