"Two significant responses from the community in particular fueled my motivation to engage youth directly in activities associated with writing and publishing their own books "
At Adelphi Elementary, in the 5th grade, I wrote a poem and in my excitement of my young literary accomplishment I remember enthusiastically sharing this achievement with my classroom teacher. To my surprise, I later discovered the poem I had written was published in the school’s newspaper. And thus began the first phase of my relationship with writing that stuck with me into adulthood. A relationship that would spark creativity and ideas that I would draw from throughout my life. Despite the ubiquitous nature of this relationship, it wasn’t until I published my first book in February 2014, Out of the Darkness: A Journey into the Marvelous Light, that I realized how much writing had been a part of my life growing up as a child. So, at the culmination of publishing my first book, the path leading to the next phase of my relationship with writing began to become clear, and I was intent on following it.
2014 was the same year two of my colleagues and I, from the community in which I served as an educator at Greenbelt Middle School, decided to launch a literacy campaign. The goal of the literacy initiative was to engage students, staff, parents, and the greater community of Greenbelt in activities related to literacy. The response of the community was overwhelmingly supportive, but two significant responses in particular fueled my motivation to engage youth directly in activities associated with writing and publishing their own books while learning about the entrepreneurial skills involving writing, publishing, and book marketing.
The first thing that happened involved meeting Rob Brown, who identifies himself as a book lover and operates his own TV studio interviewing local authors to help them with the marketing and promotion of their published books. Rob agreed to participate in one of my evening literacy showcase events to speak to the youth about his love of literature and why they should celebrate literacy. Rob invited the students in attendance, along with our school community, to submit their own short stories in a book format for him to judge and the winners (first, second, third place) would be announced at a later evening literacy showcase. The students of our school community responded with over 30 submissions and Rob was enthusiastically surprised by the number of students who participated. Little did I know it would be a foreshadowing of the direction my life would take personally and professionally from that point forward.
"The students of our school community responded with over 30 submissions and Rob was enthusiastically surprised by the number of students who participated"
The second thing that happened as a result of launching the literacy initiative included the community of Greenbelt inviting me to launch an after-school book club. The Advisory Committee on Education, or ACE, of Greenbelt, sponsored a book club after school that has been in operation the past 4 years since 2016. It was the first time I had been associated with a group of students who were eager, enthusiastic, and energetic about reading, discussing literature, and participating in writing related activities. It was also the first time in my career I was engaging in activities specific to promoting literacy and it was inspiring to see the genuine authentic reaction from students interested in these types of activities willing to meet after school to read, talk, and write about literature.
In 2017-2018 I invited my book club students to collaborate with me in co-writing and co-illustrating a children’s book involving a character I originally conceived when I was in college. A character that would travel the universe and learn about our solar system by visiting each one and interacting with the life forms they met while they visited. We spent the first semester of that school year identifying the format of how we would write the story and what the content of the story would include.
Tips I Learned for Helping Youth To Write
Tip 1: Provide guidelines to keep everyone focused on the goals and content of the storyline - In any group you may have very creative and imaginative writers who are limitless in their ability to think creatively and come up with a variety of ways to tell a story. Then you have some who are willing to write but need more assistance in developing their ideas in a way that helps them remain confident and comfortable with the process.
Tip 2: Remind the kids of their target audience - Our target audience was elementary age students, but the authors were middle school students with broader life experiences that inspire their creative desires but may not be conducive for a younger audience. At the time of writing this article, the children’s book project is nearing completion of the illustrations that go along with the manuscript that was completed at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. I was greatly impressed and alarmingly encouraged by the commitment and perseverance of the students to finish what they started and the students who have continued with me in ensuring the illustrations were completed. 2021 is the projected release date of my very first children’s book I dreamed of doing when I graduated from college.
As an educator it is extremely rewarding and fulfilling to have students participate with me in this accomplishment while helping some of them unlock their potential and be awakened to their own interests and passion to write, illustrate, and publish books.
My passion to write was now affording me the privileged opportunity to invite a greater number of students to engage in the activity beyond the group I worked with after school in the book club. Upon being named the new writing enrichment teacher, I had the honor of ushering Greenbelt Middle School to its first award-winning participation in a county wide writing program. And currently, the Howard County Arts Council and I are collaborating on developing a creative writing workshop for youth and adults to inspire more youth to write now. It is my sincere passion to instill in youth the understanding they don’t need to wait until they become adults to pursue and practice their love of writing and becoming a published author. I want them to know they can write now. Writing and storytelling are unique ways of developing one’s creative self-expression and is an integral part of how we live.
"A character that would travel the universe and learn about our solar system by visiting each one and interacting with the life forms they met while they visited."
Even if we don’t write ourselves, writing plays a huge role in our lives daily whether we are aware of it or not. From what we view on television and in movies, to the books, newspaper, and online articles we read, including the music we listen to contains the art or skill of writing. Writing is also a healthy outlet for expressing one’s views, thoughts, opinions, or emotions through journaling. Writing is a part of literacy and helps youth perform better academically when they can learn to write proficiently and effectively.
To be able to make use of my passion in inspiring youth and adults alike to write is not something I had imagined or planned, but I’m grateful for the experience.
