Shoreham-Wading River High School English teachers Jennifer Nazer and Sara Trenn are champions of their students’ work in class and as advisers of the high school’s art and literary magazine, Cymbals.

Another champion joined their ranks when students welcomed literary award winner and author Paul Volponi for a visit to the high school for a daylong experience of writing and reader workshops and engaging activities. Mr. Volponi shared his history of being an apprehensive reader in his younger years, his teaching career, his published works, life as an author and his relationship with writing in a fun, original and supportive gathering of creative minds.

During the visit, Mr. Volponi discussed the writing process with a Q&A, shared his poem “Titanic turtles thwarting thugs,” an alliterative nod to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and tasked students with finding out more about the Renaissance artists the characters are named for. Students worked up their own repetitive consonant sound poems using Barbie, Harry Potter and other contemporary characters in a fun practice and guessing game. Another task was using onomatopoeia, a playful literary effect. Mr. Volponi challenged the students to look beyond the surface of things to find themes that could potentially be used for successful stories.

According to Ms. Nazer, the students were engaged the whole time, embracing the ideas and activities to move forward with confidence in nurturing their writing talents.

Date Added: 3/12/2024