Recommendations from principals and teachers:

Principals and teachers from around the country give high praise:

“Tricia Martineau Wagner is a great storyteller! She captivates her audience.”
 – Joel Mills, 6th grade teacher

“Ms. Wagner not only thoroughly entertained our students, but she covered valuable material about westward migration included in our state standards. She was able to customize her presentation to accommodate all levels of student learning from gifted to learning disabled. It was a lively, hands-on history lesson about the Oregon Trail!”
– Dee Spiess, 8th grade teacher

“The creative writing workshop was wonderful! I saw reluctant writers working with enthusiasm.”
– Tammy Smith, 5th grade teacher

“Tricia’s visit was a wonderful experience for our students! The assemblies were well planned and kept the students’ attention throughout. The visuals and the artifacts made the times of the Oregon Trail come to life.”
– Clione Schneider, reading specialist

“Ms. Wagner’s presentations were both educational and entertaining. The combination of her experiences in researching, along with the artifacts and the pictures that were presented were a perfect combination to keep the interest of all age levels present. This was definitely one of the most entertaining and beneficial assemblies that we have had in recent years for our students. We are all looking forward to her next books.”
– Carol Huss, principal

“Thank you for coming to our school. Your presentation was fantastic! The students enjoyed it so much and the comments from the other teachers were so positive. My principal highly praised the presentation and the assistant principal was also impressed. It totally amazed me how much you have researched the time period and how many “show and tell” artifacts that you have collected. This was a super class act!” 
– Peggy Sullivan, 5th grade teacher

 “Our students and staff are still commenting on the wonderful experiences you built and encouraged around the reading of your book. Along with the students, there have a been a surprisingly large number of parents who have complimented our school for sponsoring the Thursday evening family program in the gym along with your Friday’s school wide assembly and subsequent writing workshops. Your teaching background was quite evident in your ability to keep students (and parents) of all abilities and backgrounds highly interested and on task. We had an awesome week, culminated by your two day visit. 
The captivating content and your delivery found every student and adult totally involved in your presentations and hands-on follow-up activities. You really know how to motivate families to enjoy themselves and learn something at the same time. Thank you for your terrific book and all your wonderful efforts to connect our Milton families to the past, to the enjoyment of reading, and to each other.”
– George Offenburg, principal

My grade level has had the good fortune of having Ms. Wagner for seven years now as a "primary resource" for our students during a unit of inquiry entitled, On The Road Again. Our unit invites our students to study emigration across the United States in covered wagons. With the assistance 
of a simulated program called "The Hacker Trail," students get to pretend they are an actual traveler on a trail heading to Oregon. They get to "pack" a wagon, and they encounter various fate cards while on the trail. These fate cards present the students with situations that travelers on the Oregon Trail may have encountered.  
As a primary resource, Ms. Wagner shares her incredible knowledge of the Oregon Trail in a way that brings our unit of inquiry to life for our  students. Dressing as a pioneer would, Ms. Wagner shares real-life stories from her book, It Happened on the Oregon Trail, with our students during her resentation. Each year, our students have been mesmerized by the tales she tells them. In addition, she shows the children real artifacts that pioneers would have had in their covered wagons.  This experience really assists our students in the "packing" of their wagons because they are able to visualize what a pioneer might have needed while on the trail. Our students are better able to identify with the harsh "fates" that the pioneers endured after the hour we spend listening to and learning from Ms. Wagner.  Thanks to Ms. Wagner, our unit has taken on a new life! The students are far more engaged in it than in years past. We are grateful for her expertise and look forward to inviting her to school for many years to come! 
– Meghan Preslar - 2nd grade teacher at Charlotte Country Day School Charlotte, NC