Horizon Published Authors program inspires students to write

Horizon Elementary second-grader Ethan Poole has written papers about his five-year-old brother Deacon, Martin Luther King and about himself as part of the new Published Authors program at his school.

Each month, the principal announces to teachers the topic for the month. In November, it was “heroes,” and upcoming months will tie into themes relating to black history month, presidents and women’s history month.

“One thing I noticed when I met with teachers and reviewed scores is that we need improvement in non-fiction writing,” said Principal Heather Nicholas, who is in her first year at Horizon. “We expect writing every day, with themed papers, journal writing and with assignments they’re working on.”

Once students write and edit the themed papers, teachers review them and select the top ones in their classes. These are shared with the principal who posts them in a display case near the office and afterward, places them in a notebook binder in the library so students have a chance to read each other’s writing.

“The beauty in it is the growth we see in improvement. It helps build their vocabulary as well as their writing skills. We’ll learn how much growth there is at the end-of-the-year reading assessments,” Nicholas said, adding that there was similar growth in the program at Redwood Elementary, where she also has been principal.

Top writers are presented with a certificate and get to eat pizza with the principal.

Ethan was a September winner when he wrote his expository about himself.

“I wrote about when I was born, my favorite colors and all about me,” Ethan said. “I like writing on the nice lined paper best. First, we do rough drafts in our journal and my teacher checks it. When she says it’s ‘OK,’ then we get to write it down for real with our nice handwriting.”

Ethan writes stories about people and animals in made-up lands on his own time.

“I think the Published Authors program has made him more motivated,” Ethan’s mother, Kari, said. “He has always loved to write, but now he tried harder because he wants his work displayed. I’ve gone in to see what kids have written and I see them excited about writing.”

Parent-Teacher Association President Adrianne Eldredge also sees changes in her family. She has three kids at Horizon, a third-grader, fourth-grader and a fifth-grader.

“We talk about the topic as a family and hear different perspectives,” she said. “I have conversations at different levels at our home about the themes with my kids. It’s great to talk them as well as for my kids to write about them. The kids around school are so excited and think it’s phenomenal to have their writing in the library as published work.”