Author ’ s Corner

Written By Jordan Rosenfeld

“ Through writing the book I was able to find a lot of healing . That was the catalyst that got me back to normalcy ,” he said .

Chappell graduated from San José State University in 2017 with a Master ’ s Degree in History and the desire to start a nonprofit organization . He is now earning another degree in nonprofit leadership and management from Arizona State University online . The son of an elementary school teacher ( Morgan Hill Unified School District ’ s 2018 Teacher of the Year , Debra Chappell , of Barrett Elementary ), he was also interested in working with kids .

“ I thought maybe I should teach kids how to write a book the same way I did so they can find healing , purpose and agency the same way I did ,” he said .

By the time Chappell founded his non-profit , Literary Legacies , in March 2017 , he ’ d expanded his vision . “ I wanted to create a cultural revolution through the written word , where we would teach kids to write books how we used to , and not be so much focused on phones and tablets .”

Through one-on-one mentoring with individual students , Chappell and his volunteers walk students through the process of writing , editing , and then publishing a book .

The first book Literary Legacies published was “ The Boy Battle ,” by Riyani Patel , who was in Sixth Grade at the time . This was followed by “ The Runaway Fairy ,” by Fifth Grade student , Veronica Taylar . And the most recently-published book was “ Wild Journey ,” by Alysa Marcial , a Fifth Grade student at Barrett Elementary School in Morgan Hill .

Marcial was excited about the idea of writing a book . “ I really liked how he thought that kids can write books so they could get off technology ,” the 10-year-old said . “ At first I was really shy but then the more sessions I went through with him , it was pretty fun .”

Marcial , who loves animals , particularly wolves , dogs and horses , made her protagonist a young wolf , named Stella , who “ goes through a lot of hard times .” Stella ’ s parents and siblings have passed away and only she has survived . “ She got kicked out of her pack when she was really young , and had to survive on her own .”

Stella befriends a bear and together they survive .

To get started , Chappell said they begin with a rough outline of the story ’ s beginning , middle and end . Marcial began her book in March of 2018 and finished it by the end of the school year in June . They worked together once a week for an hour at a time . Each student ’ s process is slightly different . It may take 12 sessions or it may take 25 , Chappell said . He does not put a page count cap on the students , so they are free to chart their own story course .

Marcial enjoyed the process “ because I like using my imagination to create books .”

When finished , she said , “ It just feels awesome to finish the book and get it published .” She would recommend the process to her friends . “ It ’ s better to write a book than play [ video ] games because when you ’ re writing book you can use your imagination , you can create your own thing ; you won ’ t be staring at a screen .”

In addition to helping kids pause their screen time , Chappell said the process bestows other benefits such as self-confidence , the ability to write creatively , and to be able to take on and complete long-term tasks , which can all benefit the work they do in school . “ When she gets to Fifth Grade and has to write her twenty-page white book , it will be no problem ,” Chappell said . “ Or when she gets to middle school and has to start writing essays .”

Chappell still remembers the “ complete exhilaration and satisfaction ” he felt when he finished his own book . Seeing that same expression on his students ’ faces drives him to keep doing this work .

Chappell ’ s long-term vision is to have numerous sister organizations that could spread this process throughout the Bay Area , and eventually the world , “ to get kids into writing books again .”

Marcial , whose family now calls her “ the famous author ,” has a sequel in mind for her book and feels buoyed by her own accomplishment .

Meanwhile , Chappell is always looking for volunteers . More information can be found at : LiteraryLegacies . org

Alysa Marcial

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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2018 gmhtoday . com