Rotary Club of St. John members enjoyed the presence of five well-spoken guests at the group’s meeting on Friday, May 13, at Westin Resort and Villas.
The local Rotary Club donated $10,000 to support Cristina Kessler for the Julius E. Sprauve School author in residence program and on Friday five young writers in fourth, fifth and sixth grades shared their original short fiction stories with the group.
Since September, the students have been meeting with award-winning author Kessler twice a week for workshops covering dialogue, character development, plot, show don’t tell and more.
Kiahra Boynes, fourth grade, Alyssa Paris, fourth grade, Tyric Reggie, sixth grade, Keziah Liburd, fifth grade, and Raymelvin Caraballo, sixth grade, read their stories to the Rotary members.
Paris’ piece “Chippy’s New Best Friend,” is also going to be published in the September/October issue of the award-winning multicultural children’s literary magazine Skipping Stones.
More JESS writing might appear in future issues of the magazine as well, as Kessler has submitted seven additional pieces upon which editors have not yet decided, according to the author.
