 PCC Marketing Director Jane Power, left, helped celebrate the writing success of Hope Middle School students last month. Catherine Cary, center, took first-place in a North Carolina Press Association contest that asked students statewide to write a continuation chapter of the book, "Taffy of Torpedo Junction." Also joining in the festivities was Carol Dillon, right, who is the real-life inspiration behind the Nell Wise Wechter book's title character. |
GREENVILLE�Hope Middle School students were honored recently for their success in a statewide writing competition sponsored by the N.C. Press Association�s Newspapers in Education (NIE) program. The students�all members of teacher Anne Roth�s classes�placed first (Catherine Cary), second (Emily McGregor) and fourth (John David Hodges) in the contest in which they were asked to write an original continuation chapter of Nell Wise Wechter�s book, �Taffy of Torpedo Junction.� During the celebration, a 10-year partnership between Pitt Community College and The Daily Reflector was lauded for its role in bringing the NIE program into local classrooms. PCC sponsored a chapter of �Taffy of Torpedo Junction� in The Reflector each week for the Hope Middle School students to read. Gigi Walter, The Reflector�s NIE Manager, says Pitt�s continued sponsorship of Newspapers in Education is putting newspapers in area classrooms and helping youngsters throughout the county become better readers and writers. �We appreciate the partnership that Pitt Community College has had with us in bringing these serialized stories,� Walter said. �It�s been a wonderful partnership.� Dr. Sandra Cook, who heads the N.C. Press Association�s Newspapers in Education program, attended the celebration at Hope Middle School. Cook was responsible for having the �Taffy of Torpedo Junction� book serialized, and she wrote curricula pertaining to the story for use in state classrooms. As a special treat for the Hope Middle students, Outer Banks native Carol Dillon joined in last month's festivities. Dillon was the real-life inspiration behind �Taffy of Torpedo Junction�s� title character. Now 79 years old, Dillon recalled being �very outspoken� and �precocious� as a child growing up poverty stricken on the Outer Banks during The Great Depression. She said Wechter was her former teacher, adding that Taffy�s fictional encounters closely resembled her own life experiences. �When I was in seventh grade, (Wechter) poked her finger at me and said, �Girl, I�m going to write a book about you,�� Dillon recalled. Dillon, who turns 80 in December and still works six days a week, stressed the importance of a college education to the students at Hope Middle. �You don�t just go to high school and go to work,� she said. �If you have the opportunity to go to college, go. Sometimes, it�s the confidence you give out when you are educated [that is important].� Dillon concluded her remarks by telling the children she was proud of them for writing sequels to �Taffy of Torpedo Junction� and that she enjoyed reading their works. |