Somers to Brooklyn, students
share thoughts in new book
| |
| Kennedy
Catholic High School student Matt Britt wonders if school "is
just a building with small rooms housing desks and blackboards,
or is it every juvenile's jungle?" during a book launch
party last week. |
Story and photo by Rita J. King
Aside from both being located in the same state, Somers and Brooklyn
have little in common. The diversity of the writings in a new book,
On My Mind, reflect that while students in different ethnic
and socioeconomic brackets might have a unique method of sharing their
innermost thoughts, they are still in the same "state,"
after all—adolescence.
Students from Somers High School, Kennedy Catholic High School and
two Brooklyn schools, High School for Public Service and Franklin
K. Lane High School, marshaled their collective energy to produce
the content of the volume, which is subdivided into categories relevant
to a young person's life, from school to life-changing moments.
Presented by the Rotary Club of Somers, the book contains an introduction
by Somers resident Billy Collins, among the world's best-selling living
poets, who was the United States Poet Laureate from 2001-2003 and
New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006.
"…What is also revealed are the common threads that tie
all of these young people together," Collins noted of the 81
inner-city and suburban youth whose works are published in the volume.
"No matter what their background, they all share many of the
same concerns and preoccupations: school anxieties, the precariousness
of friendships, the comforts and/or dangers of home life, and the
traumas that mark sudden changes in the lives of young people."
The students are not "attempting to commit an act of literature,"
he wrote, but to release lurking or buzzing thoughts. Adolescent writing,
usually locked away or scribbled in notebooks, has been revealed.
"Isolated self-expression has evolved into real communication,"
Collins concluded.
Some of the stories, poems and anecdotes are based on truth, some,
such as Somers High School's Albert DeMatteo's piece, are fictionalized
but no less harrowing.
Beginning with, I Never Knew Boredom Could Be Such a Bitch,
DeMatteo penned a grisly account of a joyride taken out of boredom
that turns deadly when a female passenger is thrown from the windshield.
Deflated airbags and bloodstains, shattered glass and pavement—a
lifetime in a moment.
The section on family kicks off with the work of Melvina Spencer,
a student at the High School for Public Service.
"Melvina's relationship with fat mommy is kind of on de rocks.
Fat mommy and Melvina act the same, so they're going to bump heads.
But sometimes it's great when fat mommy is not acting up. Melvina
is an angel, doesn't mess up anything. But Melvina loves fat lady.
Fat lady loves Melvina, even when she's bad."
Some of the students wrote from a future vantage point, as if looking
back on fleeting adolescence. In What If…, Heidi Ortiz
of Franklin K. Lane High School wrote, "I have come to learn
that life is short. One day you're in your mother's arms and the next,
you're worrying about boys or cars and what not. Once you hit adulthood,
it all goes downhill. You have to work, pay bills, and hardly have
time to play. Your world changes when you grow up….So I wonder,
what if? What if youth was forever?"
During a book launch party at Kennedy Catholic High School on Wednesday,
May 31, Somers Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy presented all four
schools with certificates that designated the day in their honor.
"I'm pleased and proud to be able to share this moment with you,"
Murphy said, adding that she was 43 before her name was in print in
the New York Times and commending the students for a front-page Metro
Section article on their book written by columnist Peter Applebome,
who expertly sized up the cultural differences between the youth of
Brooklyn and Somers in their respective use of language and method
of delivery.
Outgoing Somers Rotary Club President Stanley Herz said the project
would not have been possible without the support of Mahopac National
Bank, represented by Charles Hellmich manager of the Mount Kisco Branch,
Pepsi Bottling Group Foundation represented by Angela Buonocore, VP
of Corporate Communications, and also by Simon Vukelj, Senior Manager
of the PBG Foundation.
Helen Bowers obtained the grant from Mahopac Nation Bank, which also
funded literacy grants of various natures to three other area Rotary
clubs.
Martin Ashley, a local attorney and member of the Somers Rotary Club,
was noted in the book for having handled all the design and printing
needs. This work included a haunting cover of three pairs of eyes
and fading faces in front of a standard-issue high school locker,
reflective of the unique individualistic experience of life's perspectives,
but also the commonality of being an adolescent.
