Graham Academy Students Publish Book on “What Kindness Means to Us”

The Graham Academy Students Become Published Authors

Eight students at The Graham Academy, a special education elementary school for students living with autism and behavioral challenges, can now proudly say, “I am a published author.” Their writing activity assignments for World Kindness Day in November were collected and published into a professionally bound hardcover book, “What Kindness Means to Us.”

Teacher Michelle Toepfer discovered the book publishing program through Studentreasures Publishing. Using the free kit provided, she guided her students through a step-by-step process to create and submit their work. Each child wrote a hand-written sentence about kindness, accompanied by an illustration.

“When I think of the word kindness,” said one student, “I think of kind actions. I think of giving hugs, having safe hands, and helping others.”

Toepfer aimed to create a fun and meaningful project to help students improve their reading and writing skills while producing a treasured keepsake. She expressed her excitement about the project and its impact:

“I’m so excited for them. It’s something they can take home and say, ‘I wrote this.’ In 20 years, some of them will look back and say, ‘This is the book I made with Miss Michelle.’”

Congratulations to the new young authors on this remarkable achievement!
Families, staff, students, and teachers can purchase a copy of the book here (use pin number 8199325 to order the book).