AN AUTHOR IS BORN...

Tuesday, July 03 2007 @ 01:24 PM EDT

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation celebrated the work of over 250 young newly published authors at the eight annual We The Children event on June 12, 2007. A grant from the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dearlers made this all possible! Celebrities including Fox11 anchor Christine Divine, Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee), Wanda De Jesus (CSI: Miami, Flawless), Pamela Reed (Kindergarten Cop, Jericho), Cameron Monaghan (Click), Malcolm David Kelley (Lost, You Got Served), Matthew Underwood (Zoey 101) and NBA legend BJ Armstrong joined the SAG Foundation and over 1000 family and community members at the Wilshire Ebell Theater to celebrate these young students’ achievements. 5th grade students from Stoner Elementary, Vine St. Elementary, and Lassen Elementary gathered at the theater to receive recognition for their hard work and time spent writing autobiographical books.

The SAG Foundation was able to produce these books and the event with the continued support of the GLANCDA. Over the years we have built a great partnership with GLANCDA and with their $50,000 grant we, together we were able to make these books a reality.
The evening was filled with excitement and included an exhilarating song and dance performance by Keke Palmer as well as book readings by the celebrities at the event. Young girls screamed and cheered with excitement seeing actors such as Zoey 101’s Matthew Underwood read excerpts from one student’s book.
Many students were thrilled to not only receive their professionally bound books but also to have them signed by some of the celebrities at the event. California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent an encouraging message in a letter to the SAG Foundation and the students, calling the books “fantastic accomplishments.” The letter congratulates the students on their achievement and reminds them that their “books will remain a great reminder of what you can achieve when you work hard to reach your goals.”
The SAG Foundation’s We The Children program teaches children the value of books and the importance of their own lives by giving them the opportunity to write and illustrate their personal family history. Each story was compiled into a professionally bound, gold-embossed hard cover book and then presented to each student on stage during the event. The celebration of these students’ accomplishments made this a memorable evening for everyone involved in this literacy program.

BookPALS
http://www.bookpals.net/content/article.php?story=20070703132425370