Avon Lake First Graders Write Book About Bullying

AVON LAKE, OH - Westview Elementary, 155 Moore Rd., will play host to a special book signing on Feb. 28. The event will focus on bullying and how it impacts our society.

Liz Baker's first grade class recently published a book on bullying and will be hosting the signing. The book signing will be part of a larger, school-wide assembly on bullying that will take place that morning. After the main assembly, the students will read the book to their parents and then sign a keepsake book for each other.

The main assembly will run from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. At approximately 10:15 a.m. Baker's class will return to their classroom for the book reading and signing.

“We talk about bullying in our school and our classrooms are bully-free zones,” said Baker in an emailed statement. “There are lots of great books out there that address bullying. The goal of the book was for the students to make it more personal. I asked the students questions like, ‘what would they do if they saw someone being bullied?’ or ‘how would they stand up to a bully?’ They were able to write out their own responses on each page. They also were able to decorate their page. The books turned out better than I could have ever imagined. The students can now say they are published in a book, and they are helping others and raising awareness.”

Baker was contacted by Student Treasures Publishing about the possibility of publishing a book. She researched the company further and found the process is free to publish a book and thought the experience would be both educational and fun for her students (Additional book copies are available for purchase online for $19.95).

Photo from CDC, Amanda Mills