On Wednesday, March 26, Okeechobee High School held its second annual book signing.
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OKEECHOBEE — On Wednesday, March 26, Okeechobee High School held its second annual book signing.
OHS ELA Teacher Mary Albright organizes the event and compiles and edits the books that the student’s work appears in. The book published this year is titled “In These Halls: Echoes of Tenth Grade” and features poems and short stories written by her tenth-grade students.
Several of the students were able to read their contribution at the book signing for extra credit.
Elizabeth Yanez read her poem titled “The Butterflies” and it tells the story of a girl who begins seeing butterflies that speak. She explained that the butterflies in her poem represented sadness and their motivational words help the character to work through it. Elizabeth closed her speech saying, “Healing isn’t linear. It has many imperfections,” giving the impression that this young lady has wisdom beyond her years.
Winston Meredith, who loves movies and video games and aspires to make them himself, read his story about a crazy dream the night before a big test.
Luz Arellano-Chavez also shared a story about a dream, in which a college degree awaited her in the end. She went on to speak about how she is the first to accomplish many things in her family and will be the first to obtain a degree once she completes college. With tears in her eyes, she explained how important her mother has been in guiding her as she accomplishes her goals.
Natalie Harrington shared her story about what it is like to be an Okeechobee resident and how riding horses is a big part of the local lifestyle.
Each of the students who contributed to the book had a different story to tell, a different point of view, and different life experiences. The one thing that they have in common is a desire to write and share their stories and Mrs. Albright is happy to provide a way for them to do that.
Becoming a published author as a 10th grader in high school is a feeling that will stick with these young people for years to come, and it will remind them that their voices are worth being heard.
