Post by title1parent on Oct 25, 2009 9:05:28 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1842171,2_1_AU25_WRITING_S1-091025.article
East High could set record for National Writing Day
October 25, 2009
Marissa Amoni for the beacon-news
AURORA -- One heavy box of letters is going to Washington. And one world record might be set.
More than 3,000 letters will be delivered to the White House as a result of a collective schoolwide writing assignment at East Aurora High School on Tuesday.
As the clock ticked to 2:25 p.m., students picked up their pens and started addressing their letters to President Obama. They spent 35 minutes penning their letters to the president on lined white paper.
The entire student body participated in the simultaneous writing activity during 10th hour as part of National Writing Day. All students were given the same writing prompt on the same PowerPoint presentation: "Why is education important to you and how will your education help you to achieve your dreams?"
The writing activity, dubbed "Let your voice be heard," also could land the school a record in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" for the most people writing at the same time.
Katie Mendoza, a first-year English teacher at East High, said it is too soon to know about the world record, but she is excited about what the day means for the students. She said writing to the president gives students a voice when often "high school students feel like they don't have a voice."
Mendoza worked with a team of three other teachers to accomplish the writing assignment, which is the first of its kind for the school.
"We just want them to write," said Yolanda Willis, who has taught English at East High for 25 years.
The idea came from combining the National Day of Writing with Obama's speech to students televised on Sept. 8. Mendoza said one idea led to another and the team decided to incorporate Obama's address into the writing activity. Students were able to review several quotes from his speech and wrote practice letters in their English classes.
"As a school, we'd like to tell the president that we heard him and we've got something to say ..." history teacher John Elkins read to his classroom before the writing began. He continued by saying the goal of the assignment is to "create a collection of stories that reflects the lives and dreams of all the students at East High."
After the prompt was read, Elkins' 31 students turned their heads down and pointed their eyes to their papers.
One of Elkins' students, sophomore Elizabet RodÂrigez, 15, wrote, "I think that education is important because you can get your dream job and reach your dreams."
In Parker Gabois' freshman English class, Steven Green wrote about how he'd like to get as good an education as he can so he can help take care of his parents and grandparents. And Joseph Torres wrote about his working mother.
"I think the kids are really interested in this," Principal Sheila Conrad said.
Freshman Jamal Winters, 14, said he thought the writing prompt was a good one. Education "is a good issue to talk about. And how we should be doing in school," he said.
Mendoza said that Obama purportedly reads 10 letters a day. She hopes that one of them will be from an East High student.
"There is a good chance he won't read all 3,000," Elkins told his students. "But this is one of the cool things you can be involved with" as a citizen, he said.
East High could set record for National Writing Day
October 25, 2009
Marissa Amoni for the beacon-news
AURORA -- One heavy box of letters is going to Washington. And one world record might be set.
More than 3,000 letters will be delivered to the White House as a result of a collective schoolwide writing assignment at East Aurora High School on Tuesday.
As the clock ticked to 2:25 p.m., students picked up their pens and started addressing their letters to President Obama. They spent 35 minutes penning their letters to the president on lined white paper.
The entire student body participated in the simultaneous writing activity during 10th hour as part of National Writing Day. All students were given the same writing prompt on the same PowerPoint presentation: "Why is education important to you and how will your education help you to achieve your dreams?"
The writing activity, dubbed "Let your voice be heard," also could land the school a record in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" for the most people writing at the same time.
Katie Mendoza, a first-year English teacher at East High, said it is too soon to know about the world record, but she is excited about what the day means for the students. She said writing to the president gives students a voice when often "high school students feel like they don't have a voice."
Mendoza worked with a team of three other teachers to accomplish the writing assignment, which is the first of its kind for the school.
"We just want them to write," said Yolanda Willis, who has taught English at East High for 25 years.
The idea came from combining the National Day of Writing with Obama's speech to students televised on Sept. 8. Mendoza said one idea led to another and the team decided to incorporate Obama's address into the writing activity. Students were able to review several quotes from his speech and wrote practice letters in their English classes.
"As a school, we'd like to tell the president that we heard him and we've got something to say ..." history teacher John Elkins read to his classroom before the writing began. He continued by saying the goal of the assignment is to "create a collection of stories that reflects the lives and dreams of all the students at East High."
After the prompt was read, Elkins' 31 students turned their heads down and pointed their eyes to their papers.
One of Elkins' students, sophomore Elizabet RodÂrigez, 15, wrote, "I think that education is important because you can get your dream job and reach your dreams."
In Parker Gabois' freshman English class, Steven Green wrote about how he'd like to get as good an education as he can so he can help take care of his parents and grandparents. And Joseph Torres wrote about his working mother.
"I think the kids are really interested in this," Principal Sheila Conrad said.
Freshman Jamal Winters, 14, said he thought the writing prompt was a good one. Education "is a good issue to talk about. And how we should be doing in school," he said.
Mendoza said that Obama purportedly reads 10 letters a day. She hopes that one of them will be from an East High student.
"There is a good chance he won't read all 3,000," Elkins told his students. "But this is one of the cool things you can be involved with" as a citizen, he said.