Sonoma writing event gives voice to young wordsmiths

With conviction in her voice and her award-winning script at the podium, Sonoma middle school student Samantha Pencil begged for the abolishment of animal testing.

“It violates the animals’ rights,” she said. “Every animal deserves to live a life.”

Samantha shared her viewpoint at the annual Jim Thrower Rotary Writing Faire, an event that brings together middle school students from public and private schools across Sonoma Valley.

Samantha’s entry in the persuasive-writing category, “Animal Testing is Wrong,” tied for second place. Ivy O’Donnell’s first-place entry, “It’s Not Your Fault,” addressed the abundance of sugary products in grocery stores and the rise of diabetes in the United States.

Ryan Sherwood earned generous applause from his peers with his entry in the “persuasive” category, “The Burden of Homework.”

Their topics were among the many subjects both personal and universal that were tackled by sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students in their award-winning entries. Some 60 students took the stage in Andrews Hall on Wednesday to read portions of their writing in 15 categories.

Longtime teacher Kathy Eschleman founded the writing fair 19 years ago while she was home battling cancer and recovering from chemotherapy treatments. Despite her illness, her thoughts were back at school.

She wanted a way to celebrate student writing and acknowledge the thoughtful and insightful ideas penned by adolescents.

“It’s kind of like a time warp,” said Eschleman, the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation 2014 Middle School Teacher of the Year, selected by a student vote.

“The only changes I’ve noticed are it’s gotten bigger; the sophistication of the entries has changed quite a bit, just what they’re exposed to; and the English teachers have expanded their expertise.”

English teachers at the valley’s two middle schools, two K-8 charter schools and two K-8 private schools judge hundreds of campus entries and then submit them for a team of published authors to select winners.

Students in first, second and third place are recognized in each category, along with honorable mentions.

Eschleman coordinates the project with colleague Cathy Wedell. Both teach language arts at Adele Harrison Middle School.

Categories include fiction, descriptive writing, reviews, letters to the editor and informational writing. Short films, songs and poetry also showcase student talent, and original comics provide levity and laughter.

Connor Havlek’s comic of an octopus followed by a submarine read, “Man, I love canned food.” He got an enthusiastic round of applause as he admitted on stage, “Like, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Sydney Boldt’s first-place comic featured Disney princesses in tears, with the message “You can’t marry someone you just met.”

Elijah Lakritz, a Sonoma Valley Babe Ruth player, drew upon his love of baseball in the personal-narrative category with his entry, “Baseball is Awesome.”

“I love writing. It’s fun,” he said after the event, admittedly calmer than before he read his narrative onstage.

“In baseball it’s a lot more common to get a hit, and this (fair) only happens once a year. I’d say this is a lot more special than getting a hit at baseball,” Elijah said.

Eschleman, who is retiring next month after more than 30 years in education, considers the writing fair a top achievement.

“If you ask, ‘What are you most proud of?,’ that’s it,” she said.

Not only does the event recognize written achievement, it also unifies students from public and private schools. From the start, Eschleman has never put focus on which campus students attend. Her goal is to bring young writers together rather than imply any kind of competition between schools.

“That’s what I think is so nice about the writers fair. It’s such a diverse group of kids,” she said.

The writing quality always is impressive, Eschleman said. “It’s excellent, really excellent, and some of the poetry we get is fabulous.”

Each student recognized at the fair is awarded a prize based on standings, either an Amazon gift card from $15 to $30 or a $10 certificate to the local bookstore, Readers’ Books. The Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley donates about $1,400 for a judges’ dinner, an opening reception and the author reading, named for a late Rotarian.

The writer s fair is so meaningful to Eschleman that she plans to come out of retirement next year to continue coordinating the event. She’s not quite ready to separate from her career.

Retirement “was an agonizing decision,” Eschleman said. “I even love Mondays.”

First-place winners were Jackson Barbagelata, Sydney Boldt, Justine Broadman, Eva Bundschu, Megan Dewees (two firsts), Elia Harb, Ryan Hengehold, Madeline Jaycox, Shae McCuan, Ivy O’Donnell, Ryan Pfleger, Chris Raney, Simone Raup (two firsts), George Stewart and Mckenna Wybierala.

Contact Sonoma Valley Towns Correspondent Dianne Reber Hart at SonomaTowns@gmail.com.