For over a year now, students at the IU1 Educational Campus at Colonial have been busy drafting stories and becoming published writers, both at their school and on a national level.
The students worked diligently on their own school publication this year. The result—Colonial Times 2015: A New Day—features 52 poems, essays, and stories from 35 different student authors. These works give a voice to the students of Colonial and allow us to peer into the hearts and minds of elementary, middle, and high school students.
The publication was made possible by a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
In addition to being published in Colonial Times, the pieces were also submitted to a national writing contest sponsored by Creative Communications. Of the pieces submitted, over half were included in one of the organization’s latest books, Celebrating What’s Important To Me.
The idea to submit the work to the seasonal contest came from Colonial Custodian Janet Keffer, whose son’s writings were previously published by the organization. Keffer suggested the idea of students entering the contest to a teacher at the Colonial Campus. Soon, other teachers at the campus school were encouraging their students to do the same.
Contained within these publications are stirring narrations, stories that may otherwise be forgotten or lost. In the midst of their own struggles, Colonial students offer writings to encourage us with writings that are rooted in reflections on leadership, thankfulness, character, faith, hope, and love.
Download Colonial Times 2015
You can download a copy of Colonial Times 2015: A New Day (PDF Document) and read all of the students’ stories.