Every year, YSU has an English Festival in which students from different schools come together and take part in activities involving the books they have read . This year marks the 40th anniversary of the English Festival with the two authors featured being Chris Crutcher (the author of the books Deadline and Staying Fat for Sarah Burns) and Laurie Halse Anderson (the author of the books Chains, Wintergirls, and The Impossible Knife of Memory). There is also a journalism component of the festival where students can interview the featured authors and write a newspaper article about it the with the information obtained.

At the English Festival, participants can participate in different activities, contests, and win prizes such as special certificates, T-shirts, books, pins, notebooks, and money.  

Mr. Scott Suchora, the English Festival Advisor, enjoys advising and leading the Poland students who participate.

Suchora said, “I enjoy reading the books and talking about the books with the students. I just think it’s such a neat event. I like to watch the kids receive awards and prizes, and I especially like to watch a kid interact with his or her favorite author, even if it’s just for the English Festival and not overall.”

Suchora reflected that his favorite aspect of the English Festival is that the kids are enjoying reading, having fun, and not having to “read, then take a quiz, and do vocabulary.”  

He also said that the event brings the “fun aspect back to reading and writing, as opposed to making it seem like drudgery.”

Past participants had positive remarks about the festival.

Bella Catheline, freshman, said, “My favorite part about the English Festival was collaborating with students from different schools and seeing the different points of view on the characters in the book. I would recommend the English Festival to other students because I got to interact with different students from different schools and the food is always a plus and you get to miss school.”

If any student plans on attending this year’s English Festival, papers and money are due to Mr. Suchora today.

Any other information on the YSU English Festival that  you need to know can be found on the YSU official webpage: http://www.ysuenglishfestival.org/index.html