Somers Rotary Inspires High School Writers From Inner-City And Suburbia

A book launch party was held last week at Somers High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Somers, NY.  The book -- On My Mind 2011 --  brings together the writings of suburban and inner-city high school students.  Somers and Kennedy Catholic High School students participate as well as a Rockland County suburban school.  This year the three inner-city high schools are from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. The student writers celebrated together at the book launch.   
The New York Times raved about the writing and the concept in the project’s first year, saying: 

Still, when a busload of kids and parents from Brooklyn head for the green glades of northern Westchester tonight to celebrate a collection of writing by high school students from Brooklyn and Westchester, they'll also celebrate a great idea that goes far beyond words on a page. And even if their separate planets, 50 miles and many galaxies apart, fully align for only one night, that's one more than most of them would ever have experienced without it.
The collection, ''On My Mind: Student Writings from Somers and Brooklyn, New York,'' bears the unlikely imprint of the Rotary Club of Somers ... . The club wanted to do a project about literacy, and what began as a local effort with Somers High School and John F. Kennedy Catholic High School soon came to include [two schools] in Brooklyn ... .  And before long, a modest idea turned into a handsome book and quite a remarkable effort to bridge the void between poor and rich, urban and suburban, in a way that almost never occurs.
The book is available for purchase by mail for a suggested donation of $11 (postage included) by writing to:
The Somers Rotary Foundation
PO Box 561 
Somers, NY 10589
The web site for the Rotary Club in Somers is here.  See On My Mind 2011 book launch photos.   


Read the New York Times story, Our Towns; Worlds Apart, But Bound In Softcover.  A blog post by Barbara Nackman about the 2011 project and book launch party is at LoHud.com at Somers Rotary publishes student writings.


LINKS:
http://somersrotary.club.officelive.com/default.aspx
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E7D71F3EF932A05756C0A9609C8B63
http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2011/06/01/somers-rotary-publishes-student-writings/