40th Anniversary
This year marks the ruby anniversary of the YSU English Festival. Forty years ago, a great tradition was born out of the Gay family's tragedy. Amazingly, more students, teachers, YSU faculty, and other volunteers are touched by the Festival each year. As we complete four decades, we are marking the accompishment with special activities. Check back as we add to the celebration.
Reading into the Past
Last year, we hosted the Reading Without Walls challenge to promote reading to all students, not just those able to attend the Festival. In honor of the Festival's 40th anniversary, we are hosting the Reading Into the Past Challenge. Teachers should encourage students to read three or more books off of the past YSU English Festival reading lists. The English Festival contacts will provide a list of students who met the challenge. Students who are attending this year's Festival are still required to read all seven books from this year's readling list. We will award a set of next year's English Festival books to the school that has the most participants. More info to come...
WROTE Dinner
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the YSU English Festival, the Western Reserve of Ohio Teachers of English (WROTE) will host a dinner with the 2018 Thomas and Carol Gay Memorial Lecturers, Chris Crutcher and Laurie Halse Anderson, and the James A. Houck Lecturer, Kekla Magoon. Educators, please check the WROTE website for more information: https://sites.google.com/view/nctewrote/home
Save the Date: Thursday, April 19, 2018, Youngstown State University - Debartolo Stadium Club in Stambaugh Stadium.
Festival Documentary
More information will be announced, but we are hoping to collect digital narratives from past attendees (students, teachers, and volunteers). We will commission the creation of a video including your Festival memories. Check back for dates and locations of when and where you can record a submission.
#ysuef2018
Every year you can connect with the YSU English Festival by tagging your posts with our hashtag. Let us know how you're reading is going with #ysuef2018. You can also mention us @YSUEngFestival. Please still put your phones away during sessions at the Festival, but share your pics and tweets between sessions and at lunch.
Let them eat cake
Dr. Gary Salvner, English Festival Co-chair, has been on the committee since the event's inception. He will host a special session each day of the Festival after judging to discuss the history of the Festival with educators and community members. Plus, we'll have an anniversary cake each day!
More to come
We are planning other exciting extras to celebrate our anniversary. Check back for more information.