MS Eighth Grader Attends Writopia’s Fourth Annual Teen Writers' Summit

On November 14, eighth grade ELA student, Michael Munz, attended Writopia’s Fourth Annual Teen Writers' Summit. Michael heard about the workshop after seeing it posted on Ms. Donovan’s Google Classroom, and he decided to attend to learn more about his craft from experts in the field. The virtual event featured award-winning authors, screenwriters, playwrights, agents, and editors. As a special thrill, Alan Gratz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 17 novels, including the acclaimed historical fiction book Refuge, joined the panel.

Michael, who enjoys writing but doesn’t write that often, thought that, since he was working on an original memoir in Ms. Donovan’s class, the summit would be a good opportunity to hear experts’ advice. During the summit, Michael read a part of his original memoir aloud to the group. Michael explained that, when selecting which excerpt to share, he tried to decide what was the most powerful piece. He ended up reciting a section in which he recounted a painful injury he sustained when in a car accident with his grandmother. “I tried to describe the pain and how to get through it,” Michael explained. “It was kind of emotional.”

After sharing his story with that authentic audience, one of the panelists remarked that it was beautiful. Michael’s participation in this memorable literary forum marked a celebration of his work in a larger writing community. Both Ms. Donovan and Michael are to be commended for their love of learning and for representing North Shore Middle School so proudly.

Article written by Ms. Julie Ritter, Director of Secondary English Language Arts