Local youth will write the final chapter of the Allen County Young Authors program this week after 19 years and 14,319 books.
The program, which encourages students in grades first through sixth to write, illustrate and publish books, comes to an end with the final events Friday and Saturday.
Organizers say the program is ending because funding is being reduced and teachers are too busy with standardized tests to devote time to the Young Authors program. Two of five participating schools dropped the program this year.
It takes a lot of work to do this in the classroom. It takes a lot of teacher work and student work to write a book and get it published, Deb Green-wall, one of the original organizers of the Young Authors program in Allen County, said. We wanted to go out in style.
The program began in 1999 with a $10,000 grant from the Sleeper Family Trust, which continued to support the program with more than $200,000 over the years. It was based on a Young Authors program at Pittsburg State University. Only a few students from Allen County could attend PSUs annual program, so a local group was formed that could bring authors and books here.
As part of the program, a nationally known author and illustrator are brought each year to meet with students. On the second day of their visit, the professionals meet one-on-one with 34 student authors selected from each school.
Its my passion to get kids and books together, Green-wall said. If you get kids interested in books and if you can develop a reader, youve developed a lifetime learner.
THIS YEARS author and illustrator are a husband-wife team, author Candace Fleming and author and illustrator Eric Rohmann. The two have collaborated on books like Bulldozers Big Day and Giant Squid.
Fleming has written more than 20 books for children and young adults, specializing in historical childrens books. Her books include Boxes for Katje, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, and Amelia Lost:
The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
Rohmann has authored and illustrated the 2003 Caldecott Award winning My Friend Rabbit, and the 1995 Caldecott winner Time Flies. Hes also illustrated Bless This Mouse and King Crow, among others.
The authors will visit Lincoln and Jefferson elementary schools and Iola High School Friday morning, and Humboldt Elementary, Iola Middle and Marmaton Valley Elementary schools Friday afternoon. An Evening with the Authors, with a light catered dinner for the authors, committee members, sponsors, teachers and other supporters and guests begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Creitz Recital Hall at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
The Young Authors Celebration, when student authors can attend sessions with the authors and share books with each other, takes place from 8:15 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Iola High School. A book signing follows from 11 a.m. to noon.
GREENWALL
thanked the Young Authors Committee for their efforts to keep the program alive over the past 19 years and the Sleeper Family Trust for funding it. The grant was to be reduced for next year, Greenwall said, which contributed to the decision to end the program. Teachers also said they didnt have enough time to devote to the literacy program because of demands on time to prepare for standardized tests.
