ATHENS — The tiny community of Athens has probably never been known as a Mecca for budding authors.

Nevertheless, last week, hundreds of Athens School students celebrated the publishing of their very first books. Thanks to a Kansas-based company called Nationwide Learning, Inc., several of Mercer County’s youngest writers received the chance to see the stories they wrote throughout this school year put into print in hardbound book form. And, when the free finished books were delivered to the students on May 22, the excitement in the air was hard to ignore.

“I am personally relieved that they are here because every day I have been bombarded with questions,” said one fourth grade teacher, with a hint of excitement showing through on her own face. “They’d say ‘When are the books coming? When are the books coming?’ They are just really excited to get these.”

Under the leadership of sixth-eighth-grade teacher Ann Pauley, Athens School has participated in Nationwide Learning’s student publishing program for the past four years. The program is open to each classroom in the school, upon the teacher’s discretion. Teachers who choose to have their classes participate then create writing and illustration projects for their students during the school year. The products of those assignments become material for the students’ individual books. The finished 8.5-inch x 11-inch, full-color book includes the student’s name and picture, a dedication page written by the student, and the student’s own stories and illustrations.

“I kind of like seeing my story in a book like this,” said fourth-grade student Dakota Miller, whose book is titled “Drago’s Dino Travel.” “It’s kind of good. It’s amazing, actually.”

Miller’s story is particularly amazing itself, actually. With his book, the young author intentionally created an entirely new genre of fiction, which he calls “informational science fiction.”

“It is a book that is a fictional book that tells you information about science,” he explained. “I wanted to create that because I put some information on science fiction in my story.”

Similar to Miller, other students utilized extreme innovation and creativity in their book projects. According to Pauley, such involvement in their writing is exactly what she hopes the unique book project evokes from Athens students.

“Research shows that if they’re invested in what they write, then it has more meaning to them,” she said. “I like this project because it’s age appropriate, and it puts all the kids on a level playing field. They’re all doing their best, and they all get their stories put in a book. With curriculum the way it is today, there is so little time to re-enforce those writing skills. I just love this program.”

One look at the books delivered last Friday would give any reader that same respect for the program that grants children across the country the chance to feel the pride of being a published author. From Abby Kessinger’s trilogy, titled “My Life As a Dragon,” to Isaiah Atha’s ancient mythology-themed thriller titled “The Battle of Greece and Rome,” the books of Athens students clearly present a spectrum of knowledge, skill, interest and creativity as wide-ranging as the personalities of the books’ authors, themselves.

“My book is not really about the actual event of the battle of Greece and Rome, because I wanted to add my own stuff in it,” said Atha. “I added characters and mythology and things from other historical events. It’s kind of cool because mythology characters who have never met come meet each other in one event. I’ve just always been fascinated by ancient times and mythology.”

Smiling broadly, Atha explained just how it felt to see his own mythological story travel from the depths of his mind to the pages of a real, published book.

“It makes me feel good,” he said. “I’ve always been looking for more books about ancient times, but I’ve never been able to find many. I just wanted to make my own to add one to the list.”

For fourth grade student Sierra Killett, seeing her story, “The Wacky World,” published is an inspiration for future writing endeavors.

“It was awesome to see it,” she said. “I loved it. I think it turned out good, and it inspires me to write more, now.”

Nationwide Learning’s publishing program is an inspiration in more ways than one. For Athens teachers, it is encouraging to see students become so highly involved and take so much stock in the writing that they do.

“They start at the beginning of the year writing in journals,” explained fifth grade teacher Deborah Baxter. “They write stories related to what we’re doing at that time, and they draw a picture of the story. Then, we take those stories they’ve already written and put them in book form. They just really enjoy doing this and it gives them something they can have forever to remember their experiences in the fifth grade. It’s great, because not everyone has a printed book like this.”

According to the company’s website, Nationwide Learning, Inc. is committed to helping students learn to read and write through innovative publishing opportunities. Over 15,000 schools from around the nation have participated in the program. The offering includes one free individual book to each student in grades three and up, while younger students create one collective classroom book. Students are charged only for additionally ordered copies.

“I really enjoy doing this with the kids,” said Kindergarten teacher Jeannette Justice. “It’s nice to see how excited they are, and to see them go from learning the alphabet and writing sentences to having their own book. It’s fantastic to see non-readers grow into writers.”

Pauley says that the students, themselves, take just as much pride in the time and work they put into the books.

“In the first year we did this, I actually had an eighth grader cry when the books came and say, ‘I’ve never written anything before. I did good,’” she said.

— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.