Young authors

Aroostook Right to Read is an organization dedicated to promoting literacy and is led by teachers who represent schools throughout Aroostook County. Each year, Aroostook Right to Read sponsors Young Authors’ Institute at UMPI for students in grades four through eight. Selected students are invited to attend and this year were wowed by a performance by Poetry Alive!, a theatrical group that performs poetry. Founded in 1984 in Asheville, North Carolina, Poetry Alive! is the reading, writing and performing connection. The actors memorize hundreds of poems and travel throughout the country performing for schools, libraries, festivals, and anywhere there is an audience for “poetry with a twist.” Students were also able to choose from a number of workshops related to writing. At the close of the day, each student received a copy of Potatoes and Pussywillows, a published book featuring writing from each of the attending young authors. Student authors who had their work published and attended the Young Authors’ Institute on March 5 from Mill Pond School were, front row: Jessica Drew, Jill Gough, Devon Paradis, and Duncan Bradshaw; back row: Lexi Bartlett, Ethan Bartlett, Chrissy Wallace, Samantha Palmer, and Orion Merrill. Absent from the photo is Meg McGuire.