Arlington School District

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

Date:  April 30, 2008

Contact:  Melissa Smith, Community Relations

802.375.2589, ext. 147 ~ smithme@bvsu.org (w)

802.375.6070 ~ smith209bh@verizon.net (h)

 

 

“Counting on Grace” Author Visits Arlington

 

Arlington, Vt.,--Author Elizabeth Winthrop, known for her best-selling book, “Counting on Grace,” will visit Arlington Memorial High School & Middle School, Friday, May 16, at 12 p.m. in the Mack Performing Arts Center.  The event is free and open to the community.

            Winthrop, who has written more than 40 books for children, teens and adults, will speak with students about the process of writing and connecting real life experiences to her research as she wrote the book about “Grace.”  “By the time you are twelve years old, you’ll have all the memories you need to write a hundred books,” says the prolific Winthrop.

            The recipient of numerous awards for her work, Winthrop has received the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, Pen Syndicated Fiction Award and Jane Addams Peace Prize Honor Book.  In 2007, Winthrop’s “Counting on Grace” was named the Vermont Reads book of the year.  “Counting on Grace” was inspired by the famous Lewis Hine photo that symbolized the culture of child labor in the early 1900s and tells the story of young Grace Forcier who lived and worked in a rural Vermont mill town.

            Vermont Reads is a state-wide community reading program designed to encourage literacy and broaden understanding of Vermont culture.  Arlington Memorial High School and Middle School Librarian Maria Lanoue, who invited Winthrop to visit the school, praised the Vermont Reads program.  “The Vermont Reads program selects books that allow teachers to prepare lessons across the curriculum and provide opportunities for student-directed learning.  ‘Counting on Grace’ is a wonderful book that was read in our English, history and Diversity classes at the middle and high-school levels.  Winthrop’s storytelling draws you into the story, making it come alive.”

For more information about Winthrop’s presentation, contact Lanoue at lanouem@bvsu.org or 375.2589.  You can visit the AMHS website at www.arlingtonmemorialhs.org.  The Arlington School District mission is to create a safe, caring and respectful environment of academic excellence where students are uniquely challenged to reach their potential at the K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 levels.