Students Finding Their Literary Voice with Help of Laveen Elementary School District Artist in Residence

LAVEEN - March 26, 2009 - Seventh and eighth grade students at Laveen Elementary School are finding their unique “literary voice” under the leadership of teacher Vernal Ball-Daniel and Stella Pope Duarte, a nationally known author and speaker.

Duarte has served as an Artist in Residence with the Laveen Elementary School District #59 since January. Together Duarte and Ball-Daniel are encouraging students in the Laveen School Writers’ Club to tap into their creativity while producing short stories, odes and fables.

The members meet weekly after school to discuss and practice different aspects of writing, including imagery, conflict and characterizations.

Duarte has encouraged the students to see the world though different eyes, tapping into emotions many say they didn’t know they had. The artist in residence’s gentle demeanor and compassion have inspired students who never even considered writing to do so, even outside the four walls of the classroom.

“Writing seems to be a cleansing experience for young people,” Duarte explained. “They are able to get things out in the open that they might not ever say verbally. Part of the writer’s process is to write what’s closest to your heart. That’s what these students are doing.

“It’s almost like a healing process for them. Writing helps them express and release some of the pressures of being a teenager. Once it’s on paper, it seems to be easier for them to deal with.”

In addition to being therapeutic, Ball-Daniel also believes Duarte’s work and the students’ increased desire to write will translate into higher scores on the club members’ standardized testing this year.

Under Duarte and Ball-Daniel’s guidance, Laveen School Writers’ Club members are compiling their own short stories and poetry into a book that will be printed at the end of the school year. The culmination of this program will be a presentation on May 5 at 4:30 p.m. at Borders Bookstore, 10100 West McDowell, in Avondale. Students will be reading their stories and poetry. Duarte and Ball-Daniel will be reading some of their own work as well.

Duarte was born and raised in South Phoenix and has published several books, including Fragile Night, Let Their Spirits Dance, and If I Die in Juarez. For more information on Stella Pope Duarte, go to www.stellapopeduarte.com.