Vicenza MS students show off writing talents during annual competition

VICENZA, Italy - Developing writing skills while enriching creativity was an opportunity for Vicenza Middle School (VMS) seventh-grade students who participated in National Novel Writing Month in November.

For this year's "Top 10 Novel Writers," 80 students wrote imaginative stories whose themes ranged from the life of a military child, to going back in time to change the past, or getting lost in London.

After they completed a novel, more than 10 students exceeded 20,000 words in 30 days, and on Jan. 13, VMS hosted a ceremony recognizing the 13 top writers.

"I am so incredibly proud of this group of seventh graders," said VMS English teacher Angela Wilson.

"They exceeded my expectations. They didn't only write a lot of words, they wrote quality words; they told amazing stories, and they saw themselves as writers after this experience."

With her 190,022-word novel, seventh-grader Arwa Boubetana was this year's top writer setting a new school record.

"This is the highest word count written in the 15 years I've done this," Wilson said.

What inspired Boubetana to write her novel "A Fateful Garden," were memories of her grandfather, who adored planting strawberries and tending to their garden.

"Those moments held a special place in my heart," said Boubetana, "and I wanted to honor his love for gardening by creating a story that keeps his spirit alive."

Boubetana explained that writing was "therapeutic."

"It allowed me to express my emotions through storytelling. This process reignited my passion for writing and deepened my appreciation for the themes of growth and love that gardening brings."

Another seventh-grader, Christion Ming, took a distinctive approach, writing about his traveling and living in Europe.

"I decided my novel should be a nonfiction book, all about me and my journey; the reason why I did this is because people at school and family have told me that I get to do and see things that my family hasn't done before, as a kid," said Ming.

He enjoyed creating his novel, as he said, "it was just writing about myself, thinking and remembering things that I may have forgotten about in the past."

Families joined the event to share this special recognition with students and teachers.