Forrest students have
a ‘Future’ in publishing

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

When Robin Leddington told her young students a few months ago that they were going to write, edit, illustrate and publish a book, they naturally were skeptical.
The third-graders at the Edwin Forrest School, at Cottage Street and Bleigh Avenue in Mayfair, initially didn’t think they could complete such a gargantuan task.
But with the encouragement of their teacher, the expertise of a writing coach and the backing of a publishing company, the impossible began to seem possible.
"It went from, ‘No, I can’t,’ to ‘Yes, I can,’" the teacher said.
Last Friday, after a lot of hard work, the students in room 203 held an author’s tea to unveil All About the Future, a 12-page book with color illustrations.
Principal Patricia Epps and proud parents gathered in the school library as the 28 students read the story aloud.
"I think it’s cool. The writing is good, and the pictures are good illustrations," said Tyler Costello, the student who served as master of ceremonies for the event.
All About the Future centers on a boy named Jake, who wants to explore the future. Jake and his two best friends, Mike and Dominic, all plan to go on family summer vacations to Orlando, Fla.
It just so happens that a scientist named Dr. Alex has his laboratory in the Florida town. Even more convenient, the doctor has a speaking engagement at their hotel.
The scientist’s favorite inventions are a flying car and a skateboard with rockets. He invites the boys to travel in his space machine to see what life will be like in the second half of the 21st century and into the 22nd century.
The children were directed to write the book to appeal to children their age.
"It’s nice," Salena Phrachomphonh said. "The story is good for younger kids."
The students autographed the books and presented them to their parents.
They donated some of the books to the school library and others to the Holmesburg Library.
They visited the public library branch on Monday to read the book to second-graders from the J.H. Brown School.
The children, who created the fictional Future Writers Publishing Co., are proud of their work.
"The writing is pretty good, and the illustrations are pretty good for using crayons," said Josh Smith.
The Forrest students have the Songhai Press Corp., a publisher on Island Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, to thank for the opportunity to write a book.
Songhai has been in business for 15 years and has a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia.
Since 1994, the company has worked with schools from Newark, N.J., to Washington, D.C., as part of the Young Publishers Program.
The target audience is third- to ninth-graders, and the company appears in 50 to 60 schools a year.
Besides Leddington’s class, Songhai worked with Milford Porter’s fourth-grade class at Forrest to publish The Mean Caterpillar.
Derrick Gantt, president of Songhai, thinks his company is providing a valuable service.
"If you want students to embrace their education, you have to give them ownership in it," he said.
Gantt and Leddington presented each of the students with certificates of achievement.
The publishing company president said words have power and meaning, adding that audience validation — in the form of dozens of parents crammed into the library — is important for the student authors.
"This school really makes me proud in terms of the way parents support their children," he said.
The driving force behind the books at Forrest was Loretta Rogers, a writing coach for Songhai who taught for 38 years.
The longtime educator spent nine one-hour sessions with the students to produce the books. She also gave them large spiral notepads so the kids can write and draw in their spare time.
Rogers said her job was made a lot easier by attentive and eager students.
"The children were interested and tried hard," she said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynewws.com