Helping Teens Get Published
Kathy Fester -- School Library Journal, 2/4/2009
“Hey, Kathy, do you know of any writing contests? I want to have my college writing students enter contests! I looked for some over the weekend, but they all ended up being bogus pay to self-publish things.” Our school librarian, Kathy Fester, is always my go-to person when I need help spicing up my class curriculum. Our staff and students have previously partnered with PBS’s Online NewsHour on an election project, and we’ve submitted essays to the National Public Radio show This I Believe.“I’ll look,” said Kathy, and look she did. By lunchtime, she had a dozen Web sites that looked promising. She quickly weeded out the pay-to-play sites and then found that one of our new subscription databases, Teen Health and Wellness, accepted student submissions and published them online as part of its Personal Story Project.
In my college writing class at the Shelton School, I look for off-the-wall ways to motivate my students. Most are dyslexic and have ADHD, so I’m always scanning YouTube, magazines, music, newspapers, children’s books—everything and anything—to inspire my juniors and seniors to write.
My students and I combed through everything Kathy gave us, and we decided Teen Health and Wellness had two great advantages. First of all, its submission requirements and topics were high interest levels. And, coincidentally, most topics segued perfectly into college essay topics, which the students were writing for fall college submissions.
We went to work on the essays. Students wrote about their parents’ divorces, a cousin’s death, alcoholism, and victory over cancer. The topics were achingly personal, but the kids dove right in. After writing and editing (and editing some more), the essays were sent in to Teen Health and Wellness, and the students started to get replies right away. And one by one, each student’s submission was accepted for publication.
Their parents were astonished; the kids were thrilled. Plus, their peers were impressed. Being a published author is quite a feat for 16- or 17-year-old students, especially ones with learning differences. I’m so proud of them. And none of it would have happened without our librarian, Kathy Fester, my engine of creativity in the classroom.
Melissa Harrison teaches at the Shelton School in Dallas, TX, which is the nation’s largest private school for learning-different students. She’s also the author of Mother to Daughter: Shared Wisdom from the Heart and Mother to Son: Shared Wisdom from the Heart, both from Workman Publishing.
