Dr. Steven Layne Gives Junior High Students the ‘Write’ Message
The junior high students cheered loudly with smiles all around, clapping wildly, thrilled with the news they just received. Seeing the students so enthusiastic was great; knowing the reason for their excitement was they were getting a free, autographed book was truly awesome.
The motivational speaker who fired up the sixth through eighth grade junior high students about reading and writing was Dr. Steven Layne, whose name is becoming very familiar to CCSD59 staff, students, and families. Dr. Layne has held training sessions on a variety of topics for both staff and parents in the last few years at the district and recently has shown his expertise in speaking to students, too.
During his presentations, his messages include anecdotes from his personal life as a writer, information about the writing of his award-winning novel, This Side of Paradise, and how all students are authors and have stories to share. His goal is to inspire students to be writers and to ignite a lifelong passion for reading.
Dr. Layne spoke about the plot of his novel This Side of Paradise and left the students in suspense, dying to know what happened next. Much to their surprise, all three assemblies at the junior high schools ended with the news that the students were each getting a personalized, autographed copy of the the book. Each book was not only signed by Dr. Layne, but addressed by him to each student personally with their first name.
In the spring, Dr. Layne will return to all three junior high schools to conduct author roundtables with students who have read all three of his novels.
CCSD59’s Director of Literacy, Dr. Kim Barrett, said the program has been a huge hit with the students. She has heard from the principals that their students have truly embraced the meaning of his message. For example, one student from Friendship Junior High read the whole book in one night and told principal Jodi Megerle first thing in the morning. At Holmes, three sixth-grade boys wrote a poem for Dr. Layne right after their assembly and when they gave it to him, Dr. Layne asked them to sign it for him!
“Our whole lives are a series of narratives, so when we wrap our students in a story, in books, their own experiences grow richer and more meaningful,” said Dr. Barrett. “Dr. Layne has connected with the students through the mystery and the magic of his own stories, and also by unlocking the story within them that they have yet to tell and empowering them to tell it.”
