An excited crowd of students – from little ones to tweens and teens – parents, teachers and school board trustees gathered at Rockwood Pavilion on June 7 to celebrate the publication of Coastal Voices, an anthology of prose and poetry written by Sunshine Coast elementary and secondary school students. Roberts Creek Elementary teacher John Lussier welcomed the crowd and introduced Andy Johnson who gave a traditional shíshálh welcome. Blind judging was used, that is, no student names were on the work, which was selected by four local adjudicators, to determine which 82 students were represented in the collection.
Four students were brave enough to step to the microphone and read their piece to the audience. Mia Anh Tuyet Nguyen from Grade 3 at Kinnikinnick spoke about “horrible hairy hats and beautiful bouncy butterflies.” Zander Stewart, Grade 5 at Gibsons Elementary, imagined a dog’s life and dreams in his poem. Emma Felicity Taylor in Grade 8 at Chatelech described a sensation in Stuck when creativity flies out the window until you manage to transcend writers’ block. Willow Carriere in Grade 6 at Langdale spoke about how her guitar was her canvas, reminding the audience that many of the kids are also good at other arts such as music, dance or painting. In fact, Grade 2 Kinnikinnick pupil Jada Mielke designed the colourful cover of this eighth edition of the book.
The poems and stories give a good indication of what children and teens are thinking today. Around about Grade 6 the stories become a little darker as kids struggle with bullying and thoughts of suicide. Lyric Moxey-Rubin (Grade 6 at Langdale) wrote a poignant poem about avoiding that cliff edge by resisting its call. Grandparents pass away, leaving pain in a young person’s life as in the prose piece Grandfathers by Georgia Florence, Grade 12 at Chatelech.
Some pieces are flights of fantasy and gaming adventure; others describe nature walks or how to make a gown as in The Dressmaker by Violet Rae, Grade 10 at Chatelech Secondary.
Festival of the Written Arts (FOWA) director Jane Davidson described how FOWA and the School District brought Canadian writers into the classrooms throughout the year to encourage students. She called the anthology project “uplifting” and talked about the power of the story. “Keep sharing your voice,” she said. “Keep writing, because everything you have to say is very important.”
