Young Author's Conference looking for support

Nevada Daily Mail

The Fifth Nevada Young Authors' Conference rolls around Saturday, April 26, at Truman Elementary, at 12:30 p.m.

Students from Appleton City, El Dorado Springs, Ballard, Hume, Sheldon, St. Mary's Catholic School, Benton Elementary, and Truman Elementary will take part.

"We are excited about offering this to smaller districts near Nevada as well as our own Benton and Truman Young Author Winners," said one of the organizers, Fran Furry.

Donations are appreciated and they help fund the event.

"We are down $800 from what we had last year," said Furry, a fourth grade teacher at Truman Elementary.

Anyone wishing to contribute can contact Truman Elementary at 448-2080. Checks can be made payable to Nevada R-5, with a note saying the money is intended for the Nevada Young Authors Conference. They may be dropped off or sent to Julie Kibble, Principal, at 901 W. Ashland St., Nevada, Mo., 64772.

The Nevada conference began in an effort to fill a void, said Furry.

"When Pittsburg State and Missouri State stopped having their Young Authors' Conferences five years ago, Paula Shafer (Title 1 Teacher at Nevada Middle School) and I asked Diann Marti (the former principal of Truman Elementary) if we could begin our own conference.

"We wanted to continue to give a purpose for young authors to write, and to give them a way to celebrate their writings," said Furry.

"Paula and I worked on the conference the last four years, and now Paula has moved on to other endeavors. Cindy Neely (Truman Special Education teacher) and I are co-coordinators, along with a group of volunteer teachers who organize and conduct the conference.

"Diann Marti is now Nevada R-5 Curriculum Coordinator, so Julie Kibble (Truman Elementary principal) and Misti Rainey (principal of Benton Elementary) help on the Nevada Young Authors' Committee."

Students in second through sixth grades are invited. Each district has its own way of selecting their winners.

"We at Truman, select a first, second, and third-place winner from each classroom and invite them to attend," said Furry. "Our PTO helps to pay the $10 registration fee. We give each student that comes to the conference, a T-shirt and author's book, so no money is made from the registration fee. "

The event is not open to the public, partly because of such a large attendance.

"As of last year, over 700 people attended and we are limited on space," said Furry. "And it is a celebration for the winners and their families.

"Each of the over 200 Young Author winners usually brings two to three family members. It is a parent/student connection time."

This year's visiting authors are Tom Birdseye from Corvallis, Ore., and Amy Houts from Maryville, Mo.

Birdseye is the author of "Storm Mountain," "Attack Of The Mutant Underwear," "I'm Going To Be Famous," "Tarantula Shoes," "Look Out Jack! The Giant Is Back," "A Regular Food Of Mishap," "A Kid's Guide To Building Forts," and "A Tough Nut To Crack," among others.

He grew up in North Carolina and Kentucky, according to his website, "an ardent fan of anything that smacked of sports, crawdads, mud balls, forts built in the woods, secret codes, bicycles without fenders, butter pecan ice cream, and snow.

He works at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in creative writing and regularly visits classrooms talking with children and teachers about the writing process."

Houts is the author of "Best Friends Forever?," "Goldfish Are Boring," "Come Down Whiskers," "Dancing With Daddy," "Winifred Witch & Her Very Own Cat," "Trudy's Flying Hat," "She Digs Rocks," "When Daddy Comes Home," and "Hello Sarah," among others.

Houts grew up in Levittown, N.Y., until she was 10, then moved to Ballwin, Mo. She attended a year at the Culinary Institute of America and then worked at a hotel restaurant.

Then came stints at Memphis State and the University of Missouri majoring in home economics.

She switched careers, majoring in library science, and earned a bachelor's of science degree from Northwest Missouri State University. She worked as a children's librarian at the Maryville Public Library, then taught preschool-age children at Head Start, before deciding to write full-time from home.

Last year's authors were Steve Swinburne of Vermont and Lisa Campbell Ernst of Missouri.