Young Authors Festival: Photogallery

Twelve Christian schools, 223 students, 33 adult volunteers, and 36 Trinity students combined to make this year’s Young Authors Festival a great success. The reception and welcoming of this year’s author, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, was held May 5 with the festival following on May 6.

Young authors attended three sessions and also worked in smaller groups led by Trinity education majors. Leaders accompanied the children throughout the day, leading them in literacy activities and helping make reading and writing exciting.

The sessions featured keynote speaker and author Nancy Cavanaugh; small group discussion; and a performance by TrinProv, Trinity’s student improv team.

Cavanaugh, author of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, spoke to the children about the gift and the act of writing. She compared the parts of an engine to different parts of a story: the sparkplug is the idea; the pistons are the characters; the engine block is the setting; the fuel is the character’s problem(s).

The Young Authors Festival continues to impact both grade-school students and Trinity students. Grade-schoolers have the chance to celebrate reading and writing and to see the fruits of their writing. Trinity education majors value the festival as a time to confirm their calling, enjoy a day with the kids, and participate in an experience similar to what they will be doing one day in a classroom.

“I loved leading a group of 4th graders today,” said Jaclyn Workman ’14 of Tinley Park, Illinois. “We watched an improv group act out the kids’ stories, listened to Nancy Cavanaugh, and read the stories we wrote to each other. It was fun to celebrate learning and writing together.”

About the Author

Nancy Cavanaugh knows both the struggles and the joys of a writer’s life. After trying to get published for almost 18 years and only partially succeeding, This Journal Belongs to Ratchet is her first major accomplishment.

“Being the guest author for the Trinity Young Authors Festival is really a dream come true for me,” she said. “Many years ago, when I was a third grade teacher at Timothy Christian, I attended the Young Authors Festival with my own students.”

After many years of hard work, she has experienced success, and has no intention of stopping any time soon. Her second book, Always Abigail, comes out in August, and a third book is in the works.

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to be the author who will inspire the students and teachers who come to the festival this year.”

Thanks to the Young Authors Committee

Professor Joy Meyer ’78, Chair – Trinity Christian College
Sue Stein – Co-Chair – Timothy Christian
Bill Boerman-Cornell – Trinity Christian College
Emily Drenth ’09 – Lansing Christian
Linda Dykstra – Calvin Christian
Sara Jaabay – Highland Christian
Kelly Lenarz ’99 – Trinity Christian College
Deb Lindemulder ’85 – Southwest Christian-Tinley Park 
Jackie Mulderink – Highland Christian
Jayne Vandenbrink – Southwest Christian-Oak Lawn