Author and illustrator Mark G. Mitchell visited the Sherman Schools this week. He told the amazing story of his most recent book, Raising the Belle. This is the story of the 1995 discovery of the prized ship of French explorer, Robert Cavelier de La Salle and the mystery of Texas’ lost French colony. The discovery was made by the Texas Historical Commission. It was no ordinary sunken ship, as it turned out, but a 17th century French sail ship with decorated bronze cannons, barrels of weapons and goods, and a human skeleton with brain intact. Mr. Mitchell used PowerPoint slides of his own drawings and paintings, along with photos of the archeological excavation to make the "La Salle shipwreck" story come alive. Shown here is Mark Mitchell with Washington students, Leigh Ann Parrent, Haley Moreno-Ragsdale, Olivia Armstrong, and Alexis Menjivar.