‘If Kids Ruled the School!’

Murphy Teacher Holly Stonecypher’s first-grade class at Murphy Elementary School recently published their own book, If Kids Ruled the School!

Stonecypher found the publishing idea during a late-night perusal of the Pinterest website and thought students would be interested in making their own keepsake book for the end of their first-grade year.

“The company is called Student Treasures, and they publish books for teachers’ classes, so that’s how this idea was born,” she said. “I presented the idea to the class, and they were excited to be a part of the publishing process.”

Student Treasures features a free kit to be completed by the class. The company also provides support for teachers with lesson plans and slideshow presentations, along with online support in the Teachers’ Lounge.

Stonecypher said the class was eager and excited to come up with their own theme for the book. From there, the class worked on their own unique narratives and handcrafted artwork beginning in late February. Along with the publishing process, it only took a little over a month to write, submit and receive the final product.

“They decided their own theme, which was ‘What if kids were in charge of the school for a day, week or whole school year?’ They also created all the content along with conceiving the title and we submitted it. We did everything in their original handwriting, no editing of anything,” the teacher said.

“This gave them the opportunity to work on capitalization, punctuation and spelling, but it’s all their own work and words. We were also able to study both brainstorming ideas and collaboration within the creative process to give them a solid foundation in working in groups.”

The book features handwritten descriptions of what each student would do if they were allowed to “rule the school,” along with original illustrations with entries varying from having fast food for lunch each day to enjoying swimming pools filled with Jell-O and Skittles.

Included in the various lunchtime fare, ice cream was by far the most popular main dish. Donuts, hot dogs and pizza along – with absolutely no schoolwork – as well as more mandatory naps and playing basketball were also among the meals and perks to be enjoyed by the entire school with the class in charge of everything.

The book also features each student’s signature in the back, which gives it a sort of extra yearbook feel to the souvenir. Stonecypher said parents were able to purchase the book, along with the class receiving two complimentary copies. The purchases allowed each student to be able to have their memorial copy to enjoy over the summer.

The class of 18 pupils read their own entries aloud, along with highlighting their love of reading and writing, which Stonecypher instills in each child because “in first grade, they have to grow or achieve six different reading levels. Now they can add that they’re now published authors to keep that love of reading and writing alive beyond my classroom.”

The teacher was also regaled with cheers of “Miss Stonecypher’s the best!” as soon as the reading was over and the whole class posed for a group photo.

Stonecypher was quick to acknowledge the group’s hard work to put together something they can treasure from their first year at Murphy Elementary, and she hopes each student will continue to write in their journals and make even more contributions in the future. She added that teachers and students at any level – from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade – would enjoy this process.

Details: Visit studentreasures.com.