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Creating writers
By JULIANNE WU, Times Staff Writer SEMINOLE -- Budding young writers can become published authors at Oakhurst Elementary School, thanks to the school's PTA. Oakhurst youngsters have from now until March 15 to write and illustrate their books, with the help of their teachers. Then, the edited manuscripts are turned over to Mustang Publishing, the PTA-sponsored "company" which publishes the books for the youngsters. This is the fourth year the PTA is sponsoring the program. As a youngster submits his or her book, Debbie Shepherd, 45, the PTA's public relations chairwoman, types it up and scans the illustrations on her home computer. When finished, Shepherd gives the disc containing the text and illustrations to Tom Mickles, an Oakhurst dad who works for Xerox. He prints the pages on nice, thick paper on a color printer and turns them over to Lisa Gyorkos, another parent. Gyorkos, 38, then stitches up the assembled book on her sewing machine and pastes it inside of a colorful, fabric-over-tagboard book cover. So far, Gyorkos' family has donated the fabric and a Tampa company, Patmar Supply, Inc., the tagboard for the covers. Gyorkos, Shepherd and Mickles donate their time and equipment. To get youngsters interested in the project, Shepherd and Gyorkos recently arranged for two youngsters, including Gyorkos' niece, Shannon Heinz and Cameron Lilge, to tape a segment for the school's closed circuit television show. Both are from Largo. Heinz, 11, a fifth-grader, has written two books. Her first, The Week in Space, was written when she was in the second grade at Claywell Elementary School in Tampa, the project which inspired Gyorkos to recommend it to Oakhurst. The second, written two years ago when Heinz was an Oakhurst third-grader, is Magic Valley of Unicorns. In the latter, the author ended up in a place called Majesta, where she befriended several unicorns. "I read a lot and I pull out ideas and let my imagination do the rest," said Heinz."Last year, I didn't do a book because I had to study for FCATs, but this year, I'm going to write another one. This time, I am thinking of something like Fifth Grade for Dummies. I know I was so scared when I got to fifth grade and now I love it." Lilge, 8, who is in third grade, also showed off his book, Arthur's Haunted Halloween Teeth, at the taping session. "It's about a kid who finds some "haunted' Halloween teeth in his bag of candy," said Lilge. "He tries them on and, for a while, the teeth are stuck. They only come out when he wakes up the next day and Halloween is over." Lilge wrote the book last year, but is already thinking of what to write now. "It takes me about a month to write one." Shepherd said there are certain guidelines for the youngsters before they start. First, the book cannot be written by a parent, although mom or dad could help draw the illustrations. Also, the content has to be approved by the teacher. "In other words," said Shepherd, "it has to be appropriate. No violence would be allowed, for instance." The project could also be done in class, after school or worked on at home, depending upon the teacher. It can't be any longer than 20 half pages (an 81/2 by 11 sheet of paper folded in half). Shepherd said the first year, Mustang Publishing put together 40 books. Now, they average about 70 books a year, mostly from first- and third-graders. "I think this is a great opportunity for kids to use their imagination," said Shepherd, "and they get the thrill of being a published author." Gyorkos agreed. "These books not only inspire a child to write, but provide a lasting treasure." After the youngsters get to view their finished books, they turn them over to the school's media center where other classmates can enjoy reading the books until the end of the school year. In May, the children will be presented with their books at a PTA meeting.
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