Focus on TUSD - April/May 2008

Banks Buzzes Over Bobcat Writers
The buzz is just beginning at Banks.

When a nearly $4,000 grant funded all the equipment they needed to turn their writing projects into published materials right in their library, children at Banks Elementary School, 3200 S. Lead Flower, were off and running in the last few months. They've seen their by-lines in Bear Essential News and the Tucson Citizen and some have read their pieces on a local television station.

This writing bonanza pleases Lisa Martin, the Banks librarian who has spearheaded efforts to encourage children to read, write and publish. "I wanted to create a publishing center in our library, so that students and teachers and other community members could get excited about that final stage of the writing process--publishing," Martin explained.

The children have caught that excitement. Seeing their names in print has been particularly gratifying, they said. Fifth-grader Yarhani Cervantes commented, "I like it when people read what I wrote." Cervantes cut the ribbon for the Bobcat Publishing Center on Jan. 29, during one of the school's quarterly Family Library Nights, when stores are read, crafts are displayed, snacks are eaten and books given away.

Fourth-grader Victoria Salcido echoed Cervantes, saying, "Reading and writing are my hobbies. I like the excitement when I see my name in the paper."

Their writing has attracted a wide audience, inside and outside the school. Kindergartners have made a couple of books, first-graders have written short, illustrated pieces about favorite fall activities and second-graders have presented winter holiday family traditions on story scrolls.

Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders have submitted stories to Bear Essential News for Kids. Cervantes' review of "Bee Movie" appeared in a Tucson Citizen supplement and in Bear Essential News. Fifth-grader Jacqueline Siqueiros' review of Geronimo Stilton's mouse tales was also in the Citizen's supplement.

Salcido wrote a first-hard account of the Zoo Lites extravaganza at Reid Park Zoo for Bear Essential's "Get the Scoop!" section. Both Cervantes and Siqueiros taped their stories for a January airing on KVOA-TV, Channel 4.

Writers have researched their work, sparking new interest in reading, Martin said. A budding sports writer read pieces by other sports writers, finding out how to present Super Bowl highlights for a story. Other writers devour new issues of publications that they hope will print their work, and a movie reviewer gathers facts from an official movie Web site for her piece. Other writers bone up on book reviews of their favorite authors' latest works.

"Yes, we are reading to write to publish," Martin explained. "Now the writing process is not just something our students have to do for a class assignment. It is something some students are doing out of a desire to be writers, be authors, tell their stories and see their work displayed, shared, and read and enjoyed by others."

She is happy to have Bear Essential News as one of the school's grant partners because it has helped inspire writers to produce more pieces.

"I read some of my favorite books and I love them so much, I want to be a writer, too," third-grader Raylynn Laliberte said.

Some day, Martin said, many of the children will write books. And that will bring her dream of publishing her students' work full circle.

Banks Publishing Grant | Read Children's Writing

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

Photos in the April issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations, unless otherwise noted.

The deadline to submit material for the May Focus is Friday, May 16. The Focus will be published Tuesday, May 27. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the online Tip Sheet.