SOUTH OZONE PARK — As fourth grader Tristyn Dabreo sat in the school auditorium, flipping through the pages of a book he and his 13 classmates created, he reflected on the process of becoming a proud cohort of newly published authors.
“I didn’t want to write it, but when I started … I realized that a story isn’t about writing,” he said. “It’s about your experience in developing one. I felt that part was making me enjoy it more than I would have expected.”
Tristyn’s short story, “Survival on a Mysterious Island,” is a tale of four friends accused by a king’s maid of lying to the king. As punishment, the four were cast away to a mysterious island, where they found a pool of water inside a cave that was later revealed to be a time warp.
His story is one of 14 that now live within the pages of “A Tapestry of Tales,” a book written entirely by Fe Miole’s fourth-grade class at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy in South Ozone Park.
To celebrate the new authors, the school held a Fourth-Grade Book Launch in its auditorium on June 12, inviting the entire school, faculty, and parents of fourth-grade students.
Inspired by her love for cats, Jianna Jaikaran said her story, “The Time-Traveling Cat,” is about the adventures of her feline character after jumping inside a time machine.
“I had so much fun putting it together because I wanted to show people different historical times,” Jianna said. “Like dinosaurs and ancient Egypt.”
Students and their parents flipped through the book for the first time at the book launch.
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The launch event included reading sessions, where students volunteered to read excerpts from their stories aloud. Afterward, students signed each other’s copies, complete with handwritten messages on the inside covers.
Miole said she enjoyed watching how excited the kids got since April, when the students began putting their ideas and illustrations on paper.
She said she stumbled upon a publishing site servicing schools and decided to order the advertised free publishing kits for her class. Once they received their kits, the students began writing while making sure to finish before their spring break in May.
“We always brainstorm, and the process of brainstorming made them more excited for that planning stage,” Miole said. “Before, what I said was we would each just have one page, but the many times we were writing, every session, they would continue to add more and more. It went from one page to a lot.
“Most of them have five pages.”
While enjoying the party with her students, Miole said she was speechless at the final product and thankful to the school community for the celebration.
“I always believe … there should be enough encouragement or motivation for each student, and once you tap into that motivation, they’re inspired to do something and go full speed,” Miole said. “I’m very proud of each of them. Even now, I cannot fathom what I’m feeling.”
The students followed Miole’s rule of keeping the project a surprise and not asking their parents for help before revealing their finished pieces in the final week before publication.
Principal Frances DeLuca thanked the faculty and parents during the event, calling the day a “proud moment” for everyone there. After the event, she acknowledged the school’s “outstanding” teachers and the “faith of God” that made the project possible.
“This is the first published book for the school,” DeLuca said. ”But throughout at least the 28 years that I’ve been here, our education has always been like this, because we create the future of tomorrow.
“It can’t just be on paper. It has to be real for them.”
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DeLuca said students can buy a second copy of their book at a small markup, with the extra costs supporting the tuition of one of their fellow students.
“We add $5, and if anybody wants to do more, that’s great,” DeLuca said. “And whatever we get from ordering the books, then we add it to a child’s tuition.”
Luisa Manzo, the associate superintendent of special education for the Diocese of Brooklyn, who attended the event, said she was proud to see the school give the young students an opportunity to share their voices.
She was emotional as each student signed her copy of “A Tapestry of Tales.”
“I started to tear up, they all had little quotes that they put in — ‘Reading is phenomenal,’ or ‘Keep imagining’ — and it just inspired me,” Manzo said. “I think that’s so wonderful that such young minds are tapping into their creativity and showcasing that.”
She noted that she has devoted her entire career to Catholic education and finds it inspiring to witness how children grow and how their teachers engage with their creativity to bring it to life.
“I’m blessed to be part of that,” she said.