An elegant, yet informal Authors' Tea was held at the beautiful Newagen Seaside Inn on Southport Island on Thursday morning, June 1 for student writers from pre-k through sixth grades. Friends and families gathered in the spacious Cape Harbor Room with its bank of windows overlooking the sweeping Newagen grounds to hear each author. Genres included poetry, fiction, nonfiction and autobiography. 

The room was decorated with large laminated poster boards displaying student work, and tables had been set up with examples of their writing, along with photos of some of the authors. The round tables filled with fans as the early June sun beat back the fog to light up the room.  

Some authors needed a milk crate to stand on to reach the microphone at the lectern as they read their work. But any height challenges were overshadowed by enthusiasm, talent and, in notable cases, bold fashion choices. No matter how tall or small, all the readers were awesome.

“Writing goes hand in hand with reading. I noticed that some students that struggle with reading can learn to read from writing. We're proud of our kids and you will be too, when you hear these amazing pieces,” said Principal Marcelle Durost, who also teaches first through third grades at Southport Central.

Her first grade students illustrated their own books. After reading short passages, students held the books up to show the audience their drawings. Second and third graders chose to read from favored selections of their own work, and some presented research papers focused on specific topics, such as recycling, crystals, horses and tigers.

Katie Madden's pre-k and kindergarten classes read from their “All About Me” books. Madden said, “In pre-k and kindergarten, we do a lot of shared writing. We learn why we write: to record our learning, our observations, our memories and to share with others. We start off with illustrations. They work to be creative yet also to be realistic so their readers will know what they're talking about.”

Shawn Gallagher teaches fourth, fifth and sixth grades. “We write a lot in the classroom, whether it be in journals, or at the beach, or in the field. Typically, I only have kids read full-length pieces. This time I asked them to read one piece of their poetry. I want kids to leave school without those poetry deflector shields we put on, where we push poetry in the corner. If we leave ourselves open to it, it can be something that's really powerful for us,” he said. 

The student authors read poetry that was personal, funny, touching and meaningful. Several also read excerpts from their fiction pieces, all of which were imaginative, well-paced and filled with suspense. When the readings finished, the authors, their teachers and audience members were ushered into the neighboring Brooks Room for lunch, provided by Newagen. Use of the pool was also offered, weather permitting.

Before the readings began, Durost gave a heartfelt thank you to Newagen Seaside Inn owner Scott Larson for his continued generosity and support in hosting the event.

Last but not least, the lectern deserves special mention. It was newly built by Matthew Thibault, Southport Central’s “go-to guy” as Durost called him. Thibault traveled to the Boothbay schools to pick one up, only to discover that signals had crossed and it had been promised elsewhere. In a show of true can-do attitude, Thibault put it together for the Authors’ Tea, and for future events.  Well done, Mr. Thibault!