Lew Muckle Elementary School students got a close-up view of how authors and writers pool their thoughts to create articles, poems and books during the second annual observance of National Day on Writing at the school on Friday, Oct. 19. A community authors and writers came out to show off their abilities and creativity, and to hone the skills of fledgling student writers as they Celebrate Lew Muckle Through Writing.
“It’s very important to give our students the opportunity to write,” said Principal Daphne Williams. “We are looking forward annually to having these outstanding authors and writers come in from the community to guide our students on the mechanisms of writing.”
“The reading went very well,” said Zoraida Jacobs, a member of the Friends of St. Croix Libraries and a Department of Education employee. She read the book “Lock the Gate,” a story about a farmer who forgot to lock the gate to the farm and all the animals ran out. “The first grade students read the story along with me,” she said. “We did exercises, looked at vocabulary and solved puzzles.”
Retired Educational Complex English teacher Verona Bethelmie told 6th grade students, “Just as you talk to your friends about all kind of things, you can also write about these things. You can write about anything – simple things.”
After reading a poem, Regina Joseph informed 5th grade students, “When we write we must write with purpose, audience and form in mind. Writing can be different things to different people. It can become a hobby. It can help to relieve stress and it can be a way to escape for some people.”
Other Virgin Islands literary personalities at Muckle’s National Day on Writing 2012 were Joyce Tyson, Pevril Fredericks, Tricia Thomas, Juliette Heddad-Miller, Geraldine Jolly, Ovril Hector, Yvette McMahon-Arnold, Amanda Burton, Hazel Henry, Linda MacFarlane, Verne Graham, Joyce Horsford-Weekes, Abdul Ali, Joan Paulus, Elizabeth Hoover, Alscess Lewis-Brown, Charlene Matthew, Valerie Combie, Natasha Liburd and Cheryl Jeremiah Ambrose.
The event was organized by teachers Sharon Charles, Alice Joseph and Juliette Heddad-Miller.