A group of literary students got to take a trip at the beginning of the week to participate in a conference and enjoy some time out of the classroom.

Here’s a release from YGES about their trip this week:

Ten students from Youngs Grove Elementary School’s Book Club attended Tome Literacy Society’s TomeCon at the University of North Georgia in Gainesville. Students had read books from Tome’s It List and had competed locally in literacy-based activities. Local winners were entered in the national competition. Marianne Truitt won 1st place in the Book Trailer video competition.

Emilee Lewis competed at the event in the Book Talk Public Speaking Competition and placed third.

Students also participated in a variety of sessions taught by some of their favorite authors. New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz was the keynote speaker. Mr. Gratz is the author of 17 novels for young readers, including Projekt 1065, Refugee, and Prisoner B-3087. Geoff Rodkey appeared virtually from his home in New York.

Mr. Rodkey has been the screenwriter for Eddie Murphy’s Daddy Day Care, Disney’s The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen, and many others. His novels for children include We’re Not From Here and Kevin Hart’s Marcus Makes a Movie.

Students also enjoyed learning from McCall Hoyle, author of Stella, Kate Hannigan, author of Cape, Leslie Lutz, author of Fractured Tide, and Shelli Johannes, author of the Cece Loves Science series. One of the highlights of the day was having pictures made with the authors as they signed their books and notebooks.

Book Club members who participated in TomeCon were Emilee Lewis, Naomi McDonald, Marley Burch, Marianne Truitt, Erin Cheeks, Abigail Crawford, Raelyn Popham, Atziry Roblero Perez, Aubrey Smith, and Autumn Smith.

They were accompanied by Laura Lewis, Tabitha Burch, Erica Payton and Susan Crawford.

Tome Student Literacy Society is a book club for students in grades 3-12. Students in club chapters read and discuss great books, create items to enter in literacy-based competitions, and participate in virtual and in-person literacy events.