Young authors shine at 23rd annual conference

Aspiring young writers from throughout Randolph and Monroe counties got a chance to practice their craft and learn from the experts at the 23rd Annual Monroe-Randolph County Young Authors' Conference April 21.

The rotating conference was hosted this year at Chester Grade School, with Tammy Cowan serving as the 2018 Planning Committee Chairperson from CGS.

This title of this year's conference was "Be a Super Writer" and was sponsored by the Regional Office of Education. A Student Planning Committee made up of 20 staff members from participating schools planned the various activities of the conference.

Nine additional presenters from participating schools taught breakout sessions for small groups of students throughout the morning. The breakout sessions were designed to meet the needs of students' kindergarten through 8th Grade.

A total of 176 students kindergarten through 8th Grade were honored at this year's event. Students were chosen by their teachers to represent their schools at the conference. Students had to be in grades kindergarten through 8th grade to qualify and the number of students chosen was determined by the student population at each respective school.

Each participating student had to write a short story which was judged by the teachers in that grade level. Two students from each level were selected to take part in the conference. Chester had a total of 20 students selected.

Children's author and illustrator Dan Killeen spoke to the students about the books he has written and illustrated. He also discussed his process for developing his stories and he showed the participants some of his sketchbooks. Killeen also read one of his books for the audience and discussing his various illustrations.

Following Killeen's talk and opening remarks from Regional Superintendent of Schools Kelton Davis, the students had a 10-minute break after which they attended two breakout sessions and attended a small group discussion led by Killeen.

"The event took a lot of planning. We began back in December and a lot of people have worked hard to make it such a big success," said Cowan. "This is all for the kids. It is an awesome event and I sincerely hope that everyone had a positive experience!"

Participating schools and their respective number of invited young authors included Chester (20); Eagleview Elementary (6); Parkview Elementary (12); Columbia Middle School (8); Immaculate Conception (9); Prairie du Rocher (4); Red Bud Elementary (6); St. John the Baptist Catholic, Red Bud (3); St. John's Lutheran, Red Bud (1); St. John Lutheran, Chester (4) and St. Mark's, Steeleville (3).

More attendees included St. Mary's, Chester (3); Saints Peter & Paul Catholic (5); Evansville Attendance Center (3); Sparta Lincoln (20); Steeleville Elementary (10); trinity Lutheran (2); Valmeyer Elementary (9); Waterloo Zahnow (10); Waterloo Rogers (12); Waterloo Gardner (12); and Waterloo Junior High (14).