Sonoma middle school students become published authors

Why publish student work you ask? “Students are motivated to do their very best writing and revising when they know it will be included in a publication,” says Adele Harrison’s Writing Center Coach Lisa Summers.

Students at Adele Harrison Middle School received copies of the anthology, “El Avispon,” or “Hornet,” in Spanish, featuring 64 student works of stories, poems, essays, opinion pieces and personal narratives written by students who worked with the Writing Center staff. Altimira’s anthology, “Click, Clack, Cluck,” features a collection of short stories and excerpts written by Altimira students. Both anthologies include stories from the October wildfires. At the encouragement of Writing Center coach Kathy Eschleman, Adele Harrison students also wrote short fables to be included in the anthology, “Fantastically Fabulous, Almost Famous Fables,” featuring a “moral of the story” at the end of each fable.

Summers facilitated the compilation of works, design and publishing, and the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation provided funding for the student works. Be sure to visit svgreatschools.org/college-and-career-readiness.html to read the anthologies. You won’t want to miss these creative stories.

The Middle School writing centers were formed from a pressing need to increase students’ writing abilities. The writing centers, nestled in the libraries at both Adele Harrison and Altimira middle schools, provide a place for students to receive one-on-one writing support to increase technical writing skills and to practice their creative writing.

Language arts teacher Julie Ryan appreciates the availability of the writing center. “The Writing Center allows me to send small groups of students, whether they have remedial needs or are reading and writing at a more advanced level, allowing me to focus on the individual needs of students.”

Seeing the joy on a student’s face when they first see their name as an author on a published work is priceless. What a confidence booster!

For more information on the writing centers, email deb@svgreatschools.org. The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation focuses on helping every student find success and inspiration in school, so they graduate well prepared for both college and career. svgreatschools.org