Chapter 25: My Tribute to Dr. John H. Lounsbury

“Frog kissing” first caught my attention in 1995 at the National Middle School Association (NMSA) annual conference in Baltimore, my first to ever attend, accompanying my College of Charleston mentor, the late Dr. Ed Lawton. Ed introduced me to John Lounsbury, and I became a devoted follower of this amazing man and his message. To this day, I cannot look at a group of students without seeing the life cycle of frogs with all their distinct stages of development. I am reminded that kissing them may result in their growth, leading to their ultimate metamorphosis into princes or princesses (see Figure 25.1).