A free children's writing course spearheaded by Julia Douthwaite and held in a conference room inside the St. Joseph County Public Library has had 10 children making their dreams of becoming an author come to life.
"Write YOUR Story" is a program that started early December and aims at helping children become better equipped individuals and writers in the future.
The program is a free children's writing course that lasts for a semester. In this program, children read books, discuss plots, and write books together. Then, when the write time comes, they are all tasked to illustrate and write their own storybook.
When asked about the program, Amelia Zwart, 10 years old, told the press: "It's pretty great." Zwart, is a student of LaSalle Intermediate Academy and has attended the program for two semesters. She has come up with two books, the latest talking about a "modern-day girl who happens to love the old West."
Amelia, who is more inclined in the illustration part, further said that coming up with a story is hard. However, she says she usually just starts writing and everything else flows.
On the other hand, 11-year-old Jehlin Houston said he believes that coming up with your own book is the best part of this program. "My favorite thing about it is the creativity of creating your own book," the home-schooled sixth-grader said. This young lad has written a storybook about a young wizard who works at a pizza parlor. Talk about imagination.
Altogether, this batch has written and produced a picture book titled "Nabiki and Ruby: An Outer Space Fairy Tale." It is derived from the famous fairy tale "Puss in Boots." The book has 32 pages.
Douthwaite, who is the brain mother of the program, works as a professor of French at the University of Notre Dame. She is being helped by two other volunteers. Together, they guide the children and teach them everything there is to know about writing - spelling, grammar, story construction, etc. - and putting the write illustration.
"I just love to do this. You never regret the time you spend here," Douthwaite said.
The program happens during fall and spring.
