ALTON - Over 100 Alton Community Unit School District #11 students have written their first books.
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Kindergarten through eighth grade students in the district had the opportunity to participate in Young Authors, a program that encourages students to write and illustrate their own books. Of the 118 Alton participants, 28 were selected to advance to the county conference on April 26, 2025.
“The goal is to be fostering that love of writing at an early age, which not only strengthens their literacy skills, but it builds their confidence and their critical thinking,” explained Rene Hart, ACUSD11 Director of Curriculum and Instruction. “Our students really take pride in that work.”
Students sign up for the Young Authors program in the fall and have a few months to write and illustrate their books. They can work with Alton staff members and their families to create their manuscripts.
On March 5, 2025, the Alton School District hosted all of the Young Authors participants at a “beautiful event” at Alton High School, Hart said. The 118 students received a trophy and could share more about their stories, what inspired them, their writing process, and the plots.
“You want to read all 118 books because the titles are so engaging,” Hart said. “We have kids writing about family vacations, kids being inspired by stories they’ve read in their classrooms. Actually, this year we had quite a bit of informational text where students were writing about historical figures in more of an informational-type text, which was really interesting because they didn’t go necessarily towards that story route with the narrative. That was really cool to see, too.”
Hart noted that participation has increased in recent years, especially at the middle school level. She expressed gratitude for the families and teachers that help their students create their stories.
“It’s just really nice to see everybody come together for the purpose of writing and literacy,” she added. “The goal is to keep these students engaged and coming back, and hopefully we will continue to build the program…We’re really proud to support this event as part of our commitment to literacy and student achievement.”
Nolan Maronie, Mazie Rankin, Rosalie Gaither, Violet Giertz, Henry Kuehn, Dallas Dunbar, Samara Hopkins, Ella Reed, Sophia Banks, Brody Brasket, Ryker Kelsaw, Brookelyn Douglass, Owyn Turner, Eli Fergurson, Penn Ely, Juniper Phillips, Talia McDonald, Chloe Younger, Athena Lockwood, River Burk, Delany Schilling, Jack Phillips, Greta Gordon, Lyllian Owens, Adrianna Turso, Swara Jadhav, Blake Johnson and Eloise Beiser are the 28 students who will advance to the county conference on April 26, 2025.
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