“Not everybody plays on a sports team and not everybody can make the MathCounts team,” said Marcos Simon, a sophomore at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke “Our idea with ‘The River’ was to create an opportunity for talent to shine in Robeson County.”
The university’s Literacy Commons unveiled its newest publication, “The River,” on May 1 at a dinner with the young contributing authors and artists who were drawn from the Public Schools of Robeson County.
“I was blown away by the talent I saw in these submissions,” Simon said. “I wish I had the chance to do something like this when I was in school.”
Simon was one of six UNCP students who worked on the project with The Literacy Commons, whose mission is to advance creativity and critical thinking by promoting literacy in its many forms. “The River’s” pages are filled with art, poetry and short stories selected by the student committee and submitted by students from Orrum, St.Pauls, Fairmont and other schools across Robeson County.
“The Literacy Commons began as an outreach to the public schools in Robeson County,” Marquard said. “As we became familiar with this community, we saw that there is a ton of talent out there that is untapped.
“‘The River’ is one journal that brings together the writing and art from many schools,” he said. “I would like to thank our partners in the Public Schools of Robeson County, especially Assistant Superintendent Linda Emanuel and Public Relations director Tasha Oxendine.”
The project is tailor-made for writers like Kyle Edwards of Orrum Middle School. “Kyle has his own Barnes and Noble card,” said his mother Vonda. “He reads all kinds of books all the time since he was very young.”
Kyle had plenty to say later in the program when he read his poem, “Life is a Flower.” His work began: “Life is a flower, that took a gamble rooting here.”
Not all the authors were as bold as Edwards, but several, such as Communications in Schools Academy student Jacob T. Odom, took the gamble.
“Happiness dances through my mind … like my own private ocean of laughs and cheers,” Odom read from his poem titled “Happiness.”
Creative writing is often personal. When Leah Locklear could not finish reading her story, titled “The Day I Lost My Friend,” Simon finished it for her.
“My favorite part was looking through the art submissions because I like art, especially photography,” said Jacob Brown, a freshman from Burlington. “I liked that there was a wide range of work.”
