Seventh grader Ella Hedstrom commands an attentive audience while presenting a monologue as part of her contribution to the Writing Celebration.
On March 16th friends and families of Great Expectations School gathered to witness the literary skills of Cook County’s young authors. GES hosted its second annual Writing Celebration. The array of literary wit ranged from personal stories written by kindergarteners to detailed accounts of the third and fourth graders’ tales of “pioneering out West” all the way to monologues and essays presented by GES’ seventh and eighth graders.
“Writing is intensely personal” GES director Peter James said. “By doing these projects along with peers and in community, students have a chance for an authentic assessment of their abilities,” James said.
One such aspiring author that has taken this message to heart is eighth grader Sylvia Berka. Berka had a couple minutes to answer questions for the News-Herald in between presenting a monologue, essay, as well as an excerpt from a play.
(L-R) Parker Backstrom, Jessen Conlan, Jordan Backstrom, and Danny Berka dress up in full Western regalia as part of their storytelling of the early pioneering days.
“My first memory of starting to write was in Anne Mundell’s fifth grade class. It was for NaNoWriMo,” Berka said.
NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) is an international campaign that encourages writers of all ages to try and write a first draft of a novel within the month of November.
“Me and two other kids are planning on writing books, on our own, they’re not published yet but we’re excited to work on them.”
Berka added she especially draws inspiration from Greek myths and fantasy literature.
Third and fourth grade teacher Suzy Schweig, who helped her students write their “Diaries of the Wagon West”, said that a large part of writing is presenting writing to the public.
“Some of these students are shy but then they realize the value of educating and entertaining the audience. They become immersed and realize that they’re experts on a subject and become more confident than they were before,” Schweig told the Herald.
“I had a student who did not want to be in front of an audience. But then she came tonight and said ‘Suzy, where do you want me?’ and she sat down and expertly presented her work to the crowd.”
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