Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 19, 1993 TAG: 9304170216
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When he was finished, students in the high school class indicated a willingness to work in some way with the Roanoke Valley Court Appointed Special Advocate Program. CASA provides volunteers to guide children through the confusion of the court system and help them to be placed in safe, permanent homes.
Trompeter mentioned this to Zip Basile, the CASA advisory board chairman, and suggested that she might want to follow up on it.
Not long after that, three students - Kristin Wilhelm, Sara Childers and Ashley Berry - were looking for a project for the desktop publishing category of the annual Roanoke Governor's School Science Forum.
Considering a children's book, they spoke to Nancy Ruth Patterson, children's author and director of the CITY School, who had recently spoken to Basile. Patterson suggested a book for the children in the CASA program.
The students went to work, and the result is a book designed for - but not limited to - children who are involved in abuse and neglect cases. It's called "In Hopes of a Hug."
The students planned it, plotted it, wrote it, completed the drawings and printed it in January, in time to win a first prize at the science forum.
Now CASA representatives are seeking contributions to print additional copies of it, The students planned it, plotted it, wrote it, completed the drawings and printed it in January, in time to win a first prize at the science forum. so it can be distributed and do its helpful work. Twenty-nine CASA volunteers will soon be working with some 90 children, according to Carol Key, the program's director.
The book stars Punky Porcupine and recounts his difficulties fitting in with friends. When he scores the winning goal in a soccer match, his teammates - Dieter Duck, Peyton Pig and Katie Kangaroo - mob him, only to be discouraged by his quills.
Punky's subsequent ostracism and often futile search for a hug ends when he encounters Taylor Turtle, whose hard shell protects him from Punky's piercing problem.
Exercises throughout the book enable readers to fill in their own likes and dislikes, just as Punky does. There are places to write the name of their favorite song, color, game and friends. They can also describe times when they were happy or sad.
The purpose is to help children develop their identities, Wilhelm says.
Producing it required the students to consider their audience in detail. It also taught them how to work together to complete a complicated task.
"A lot of people didn't think we could do it," Berry says.
During January, the students spent two hours and 45 minutes of each CITY School class period writing their first draft. They worked meticulously, pondering every word and plot turn. They also contributed ideas for the drawings, which Berry executed.
One early decision was to abandon human characters for animals. Humans seemed too personal to them, and might have carried political implications.
Another decision involved vocabulary. "We had to tone down our words," Childers says. They replaced sophisticated terms with more elementary ones. They also struggled to find a tone that was neither superficial nor dark.
Walker Holt, computer teacher at the Governor's School, shepherded them through the technical aspects.
"I was surprised by the professionalism they showed," Patterson says. "They were focused - really, really self-confident."
That confidence came out in the disagreements they shared, mini-debates that, they admit, tested their friendship at times.
"It's very important that you compromise and yet still hold your own opinion," Wilhelm says.
"And remember the cause," Berry adds.
Their goal was to provide something of benefit to the abused and neglected children, but they benefited, too. Wilhelm, for one, thinks she might become a CASA volunteer once she finishes her education. She is considering a career in child psychology. Childers remains committed to veterinary medicine, while Berry is undecided about her future, other than to go to college.
All three students are working with their classmates on children's books during the current nine-week study unit.
They are excellent writers, Patterson says. (The CITY part of CITY School stands for Center for Intellectually Talented Youth.)
On Tuesday, Roanoke Valley CASA officials will recognize their efforts at a Volunteer Appreciation Week luncheon at the Jefferson Club.
That's not their only prize. For their work on "Hug," each author received an A, "and they got extra credit in my heart," Patterson says.
That, says Kristin Wilhelm, is "a very big deal down here."
by CNB