NEW YORK, May 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-three students in third through fifth grades at four New York City elementary school are now published authors.
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Through a unique project conducted by Scholastic Book Clubs with four New York City elementary schools, the students learned the ins and outs of the publishing world this school year – and now they can say they are authors themselves! The Scholastic Writers of Tomorrow program, which is aligned with New York State Writing Standards, consisted of eight 1-hour workshops about book publishing taught by Scholastic staff members. The program was coordinated with the help of PENCIL, an education nonprofit in New York City that inspires innovative solutions to the challenges facing public education by providing results-driven opportunities for the private sector to actively participate in transforming public schools.
The participating schools were P.S. 135, P.S. 195, and P.S. 152 in Queens, and P.S. 279 in Brooklyn. Through each of the monthly workshops held at the schools or at Scholastic, students learned about topics such as, "Turning an Idea Into Reality," "How to Edit Your Manuscript," and, "Cover & Interior Design." Students attended workshops and worked on the books starting in the fall and throughout the course of the school year, and each of the four schools ended the program with a beautiful picture book on the topic of time travel.
The four original books were presented to the school principals at a ceremony on Thursday evening at Scholastic headquarters in New York. Blast from the Past by P.S. 195, It's About Time... by P.S. 279, Max the Time Traveler by P.S. 152, and Adventures in Time Travel by P.S. 135 are available for purchase on the Scholastic Store Online, and all proceeds will go back to the schools involved.
"It's important to us at Scholastic to give back to the public schools here in the community of our headquarters, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to show children, step by step, how a book goes from the original idea all the way to the hands of a reader," said Judy Newman, President of Scholastic Book Clubs. "We hope the children who participated this year were inspired to become the writers of tomorrow and to become lifelong readers and lovers of books!"
"Providing students the chance to create their own books with one of the most respected publishing houses in the country is a perfect example of the tremendous value the private sector can provide for our public schools," said PENCIL President Michael Haberman. "Scholastic is building a love of reading and writing for students, and giving them experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives."
For more information about Scholastic, visit the mediaroom at mediaroom.scholastic.com.
PENCIL inspires innovative solutions to the challenges facing public education by providing results-driven opportunities for the private sector to actively participate in transforming public schools. Our programs share a common premise: by bringing together the best ideas, talent and resources across sectors, we can create real change in our schools. For more information about PENCIL, visit www.PENCIL.org.
SOURCE Scholastic Inc.
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