South Brunswick Students Publish Stories in Children’s Literary Magazine

Local children’s magazine City Kidz World published the work of 14 South Brunswick children, ranging from seventh grade to kindergarten, for the spring/summer 2012 issue that came out this week.

Students published short stories and poetry. 

Diane Henderson, editor of City Kidz World magazine, said, “We find the work of our young writers to be creative and interesting. The young people who send stories to us have a great confidence in their ideas and it shows.”

The South Brunswick middle school students who published work include; Janani, That’s a Surprise; Aishwarya, The Adventures Of Becky and Benson: The Missing Ruby; Laya, Bundle of Mischief; Ananya, Adventure Island, Abhinaya, Power Outage; and Shubh, Shorter School.

The South Brunswick elementary school students who published work include: Kritika, The Sky Lit Up and Out the Window; Siya, Green Leaves, Trisha, When I Fell Off my Bike; Sayli, Glasses; Dhruv, Super Sci-Fi; Akaash, The Cave; Bridget, In  a Split Second and Beach Fun; Isha, Trip to Infinity; Ellison, About the Hotel; and Everett, The Farm Family.

The students who published stories and poems attend Constable Elementary School, Crossroads North Middle School, Crossroads South Middle School, Brooks Crossing Elementary School, Brunswick Acres Elementary School, Indian Fields Elementary School, Elite Prep Academy in Somerset and Yinghua International School in Princeton.

City Kidz World magazine, a local magazine, which comes out in each September, December, and April, accepts work from all students, world-wide, however, the majority of the students who publish in the magazine  are students enrolled in the City Kidz World Writing Studio creative writing program located in Kendall Park, New Jersey. Although the The Writing Studio has a Kendall Park location, it also provides creative writing and language arts enrichment through home-based classes staffed by language arts tutors.

Students who are part of the writing program study creative writing, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary, but every couple of months they select some creative writing piece that they have prepared as part of the program and submit that work to the publication.

“The purpose of the children’s literary magazine is to provide that final step – publication – which is required by the state and national writing standards. Schools have many ways of trying to provide that step for children, but at The Writing Studio we take this concept of preparing final drafts and publishing to the next level. It helps students really understand the idea of taking a critical look at their own writing,” said Melissa Edwards, director of City Kidz World Writing Studio.

“We are trying to really engage the youth community in the writing process. Writing has long been an academic weakness for many students. At the college level many students struggle because they recognize that they have many gaps in their basic writing skills. People struggle to improve their writing as adults in order to get through college and function at work, but it doesn’t have to be that difficult.  By joining a program that provides an opportunity for students to write and receive feedback consistently, students become aware of  errors, correct them and develop proper writing habits and confidence,” said Edwards.

“At The Writing Studio we are acknowledging that writing is not something that will improve because you are a voracious reader and you are also not necessarily a good writer because you are making an A in your English class. Writing is a life sport and needs to be applicable in numerous contexts. It is only possible through practice and guidance,” Edwards said.

The Writing studio is in session during the academic school year between September and June and will sponsor the third annual Creative Summer Camp starting June 25 and ending August 17. There will be an open house on June 20 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 3530 Rt. 27, Kendall Park, NJ 08824.

For more information about the program, go to www.citykidzworld.com  or call 732-422-0829.