Twelve English as a Second Language (ESL) students from Umatilla High School have become published authors through the national student publishing program, Studentreasures Publishing. Through this program, students were involved in every step of the publishing process. They planned, wrote, and illustrated their book, which they titled Un Cuento.
The idea for their book came about when Ms. Blanca Ramirez, substituting for Mr. Eric Lougee during his leave, was looking for a class project to help the students learn and practice English that incorporated writing and creativity. They found the publishing program and decided each student would write their own short story in Spanish and then translate it into English for the book. As a class, they helped one another with the illustrations. Students worked hard on their stories for a number of weeks and were excited to show this project to Mr. Lougee, whom they dedicated the book to.
“It was such an amazing experience seeing these kids create their stories,” said Ms. Blanca Ramirez. “From their initial idea to their rough drafts and then translate each one. Every day that they got to work on their story was full of laughter and excitement. I learned as much from them as they did from me.”
UHS held a publishing party on April 5th to celebrate the students’ accomplishment and surprise Mr. Lougee with their published hardcover books. A book signing session was also held at the celebration for students to sign their work.
About Studentreasures Publishing:
For more than 25 years, Studentreasures has helped over 16 million students become proud, published authors. Named the “best free school publishing program,” Studentreasures provides engaging hands-on writing lessons in classrooms across the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit https://studentreasures.com/.
