Wing, North Dakota – Successful authors say writing about what you know creates the best narrative.
Wing Public School students in grades 6-12 followed that counsel.
Good news: they published a book of their stories.
True events make Megan Hertz familiar with this story.
“This was like a real-life story. It actually happened,” explained Hertz, a freshman at Wing.
Hertz is merely one of the Wing students who contributed to the drafting of “Cherry Street 58493.”
The story takes place in the little, made-up North Dakota hamlet of Winfield in 1966.
“It’s just a made-up town,” she said.
Stories from each of Jay Reinke’s sixth through twelve-grade pupils are included in the book. They wrote on topics they were interested in and familiar with.
That meant writing about a cattle drive for Bryce Mehlhoff.
“Just how tough it was and how they had to overcome a lot of stuff on that trail,” Mehlhoff said.
A hunting excursion was described by Hunter Wolff.
“It’s about a father, a son, and a dog,” said Wolff.
The book is narrated by their teacher, who also connects all the stories. The students were surprised at how long it took to go from their initial draft to this final output.
“It took probably eight different drafts,” said Wolff.
However, they claim that it feels nice to hold their book in their hands.
“It really turned out good and I’m glad we took the time to do it,” said Hertz.
“I’d say it’s worth it,” added Mehlhoff.
Although this is Mr. Reinke’s first try at a project of this nature, he would definitely do it again.
“Absolutely,” said Reinke.
As he is aware that the knowledge his pupils gained by penning this book will benefit them in all aspects of their lives.
Cherry Street 58493 is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
Not only is the town of Winfield made up, but the zip code is bogus too. Wing’s zip code is only one digit away.
