By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
This month, four Burton Street Elementary School students were selected to be published in the Young Writers’ “Spooky Sagas 2019 – Ghost Stories from New York” publication.
The students’ stories were selected from over 10,000 entries received by Young Writers for the creative writing contest.
Cherie Ward offered the contest to her second grade students as an enrichment activity in early October.
Four students submitted their 100-word stories — Lily Berg, author of “The Vanishing Witch,” Bailey Russin, author of “The Zombies in The Woods,” Elliot Wright, author of “Spooky Life,” and Walter Denkenberger, author of “The Zombie and The Vampire.”
“I am incredibly proud of my students and their hard work,” Ward said. “Their creativity always amazes me . . . When I first presented the writing opportunity to my class, they were eager to write the best spooky saga in order to win. Last week, we were all astonished to learn that all four of the students who submitted sagas were selected to have their stories published. I am overjoyed by the news of their accomplishments. As second graders, they can officially call themselves published authors.”
“Spooky Sagas 2019 – Ghost Stories from New York” is scheduled for release on Feb. 29.
The mission of Young Writers is to “get kids to be passionate and confident writers . . . and [to] stand a realistic chance of seeing their work in print.”
Burton Street Library Media Specialist Katherine McGinnis informed Ward about the contest in the hope that the opportunity might benefit her students.
“As a librarian, it is extremely important to collaborate with teachers,” McGinnis said. “It is essential for students to see how the library curriculum is connected with their ‘in class’ curriculum. Working with classroom teachers and enhancing their curriculum through technology, innovative learning/teaching strategies and enrichment activities, such as this contest, is one of our library’s goals. When I receive a contest I put it out to teachers and offer guided support for students if and when the teacher decides it would enhance their curriculum.”
The contest was presented to students as an optional activity to be completed in class and at home.
According to Ward, most of her students started the project, but only the four winners followed through and submitted their spooky sagas.
“We offered support for students in their writing, but it [was] truly student led and highly independent,” McGinnis said. “This makes the reward of being published even more meaningful to students . . . It is nice to see students willingly write a story on their own and be excited about it. We will continue to offer these enrichment activities and hope for more and more involvement as the years go on.”
To learn more about Young Writers, visit youngwritersusa.com.
