The Belle Between Bells

Author, Jen Calonita was the belle between bells when she visited Ms. Maresca's Creative Writing class on Thursday, May 16th during 8th period. Ms. Calonita had our students entranced with tales of her life as an entertainment magazine journalist, for the now defunct Teen People and Mademoiselle, before becoming a full-time young adult author. She spoke about her path to writing novels and how she creates characters and develops the plot to her stories. Our students are starting to write their own short stories and Ms. Calonita has certainly given them a few new tools to add to their repertoire. We raffled off 10 paperback copies of her novel, Belles.  This event was sponsored by the National English Honor Society. Ms. Calonita will be back next week after school on Wednesday, May 22nd for Creative Writing in the Courtyard. Students will discuss Ekphrasis and Inspirational Poetry. Participants will have the opportunity to craft original pieces while enjoying the beauty of the courtyard on a bamboo mat.