TEXARKANA, Texas -- Three Texarkana ISD students have been selected to have their initial drafts turned into published stories.
Third-grader Zoe Alejandra Gabriel Labrada of Wake Village Elementary, fifth-grader Israel Lisboa de Jesus of Waggoner Creek Elementary and sixth-grader Seham Ibrahim Mustafa Swaiki of Texas Middle School entered a contest by Brownie Books Publishing Co. and won.
Mindy Basurto, the district's coordinator of multilingual education, said the experience of writing stories with intent to publish was valuable to her students.
"It brought a lot of excitement around bilingualism and pride in biliteracy," Basurto said. "In the past, many students who were multilingual did not feel that inner sense of pride in their bilingualism because of the lack of culturally sustaining practices."
Basurto said one of the pillars of bilingual education is to encourage students with culturalism to be bilingual and biliterate.
"We want to influence their academic achievement, and to do that, what is a better way of instilling confidence and self-assurance with a positive identity of cultural heritage than letting kids share their own stories?"
Labrada's story, "The Big Star," is about a little star trying to make friends and is based on her own experiences with being small in stature. Labrada's intention with her book is to help encourage students to shine brightly even when they feel small. Her story will be published in English and Spanish.
De Jesus' story will be published in English and Spanish and tells the story of a boy named Joshua who uses friendship to deal with a difficult situation.
Swaiki's story is based on her own experience of moving from Palestine to the United States and how being a newcomer can be nerve wracking -- but that friends, teachers and finding courage can help make the transition easier. Swaiki's story will be published in English and Arabic.
"Anything that we can do to help them build that excitement and show off their abilities, we want to do it," Basurto said.
The students will spend the spring working with professional editors and illustrators to create the final copies of their books, which will be published sometime in May. Labrada, de Jesus and Swaiki will each participate in "Meet the Author" events where they will sign books for their fans, families and friends.
Israel Lisboa de Jesus' story will be published in English and Spanish and tells the story of a boy named Joshua, who uses friendship to deal with a difficult situation. (Photo courtesy of TISD)
Zoe Alejandra Gabriel Labrada's story, "The Big Star," is about a little star trying to make friends and is based on her own experiences with being small in stature. Labrada's intention with her book is to help encourage students to shine brightly even when they feel small. (Photo courtesy of TISD)