Beth Felts, an Elkin High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, recently received a grant of $1,500 from Youth Service America and State Farm Insurance.
Felts chose to use the funds to support her fall semester Project Management I class in writing a character education book for elementary school students titled “Bucky’s Friends.”
The idea of using the funds to publish a book about character education came to Felts because she has always thought it was “important for high school students to be role models for younger students,” she said.
She also thought that Bucky, Elkin City Schools’ mascot, could be a primary character to model responsible behavior while promoting school spirit.
Twenty-two students participated in the project by writing and illustrating the six children’s stories. The 87-page book also contains pages of helpful hints regarding social expectations and activities for young children such as story writing and word games that put some of the social concepts in practice.
The students in Felts’ class used teamwork and their creative writing abilities to make the stories fun for young children to read. The class was split into groups and each group chose a topic for its story that taught an important lesson about topics such as coping with and preventing bullying, compassion for others, and following directions. Bucky is a character that appears in each of the stories to guide students in making positive social choices.
The project blended well with the project management curriculum because the course is based on teaching students about leadership, teamwork, goal setting, risk analysis, and time management. Each of these skills was used throughout the project while students practiced writing and received real-life skills in publishing and community service.
Although it was a lengthy process that took lots of work, Felts commented, “I don’t think I would change anything regarding this particular project.”
A book dedication ceremony is scheduled for April 26, National Youth Service Day, at Elkin Elementary School. All third grade students will receive a copy of the book, and all the student authors of Bucky’s Friends will be present to sign.
The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact Beth Felts at Elkin High School at 336-835-3858.
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