Committed to Helping Young Students Rewrite Future

When Laguna Niguel author Nancy Taylor Rosenberg began sponsoring a writing contest at Willard Intermediate School last year, she couldn’t believe the caliber of one student’s writing.

“It was so sophisticated, I just couldn’t imagine a 12-year-old from this middle school in Santa Ana came up with this,” said Rosenberg, the best-selling author of the legal thrillers “Mitigating Circumstances” and “Interest of Justice.”

Rosenberg was so surprised by the sophistication of Andrew Albers’ entry, she is now embarrassed to say, that she indicated in a letter accompanying the boy’s honorable mention certificate that she thought he may have copied his story about Japanese samurai from another source.

So this year, the seventh-grader took no chances in having his writing called into question: His 30-page, single-spaced entry included a cover letter with not only his teacher’s signature but those of fellow students verifying that the story is indeed all his.

And this time Rosenberg was even more floored by the quality of Andrew’s entry, a fact-based story about a Russian man who-- a la “Schindler’s List”--saved the lives of Jews during World War II.

“He’s brilliant,” raves Rosenberg, praising the boy’s polished prose, vocabulary and grasp of his story, which was written like a novel. “It’s obvious that what we have is a 12-year-old novelist who one day may be a major novelist.”

Andrew, now 13, took the top honor at the contest awards ceremony last week.

When Rosenberg announced his name--and those of second- and third-place winners Billy Rowley and Nga Ta--the throng of students seated on the floor of the school assembly room burst into loud choruses of cheers and applause.

It was the sort of recognition usually reserved for victorious athletes, and that’s the point of the contest: to offer writers as enviable role models and to encourage students to write.

“I think it’s good that we’re trying to say that potential scholars or potential artists are just as important to society as super athletes are,” said Rosenberg, 47.

In a city where the allure--and threat--of gangs is all too real, Rosenberg, a former police officer and probation officer, says writing is a way for young people to vent their feelings and frustrations without resorting to violence.

“Some of the kids that are involved in gangs are real talented,” she said, adding that “writing is a wonderful thing because they can use their imagination and release their hostilities.”

Middle school students are being targeted, she said, “because we think they’re at the age where we think we can reach them. It’s not too late, so to speak.”

The goal of the contest is to help teach them communication skills first, Rosenberg said, but she has a larger goal in mind.

“When I was growing up I was a little bit different, I think, because I had a creative personality. I was a loner and felt I didn’t fit in, and I used my writing to deal with the frustrations in life even when I was very young,” Rosenberg said.

“I’m trying to teach these kids who grow up with tremendous frustrations and fears that they don’t have to resort to violence. I tell them, ‘Let’s deal with those things on paper, and if you don’t like your world you can create your own world’ ” on paper.

The writing contest grew out of an adopt-a-school program at Shir Ha-Ma’alot Harbor Reform Temple in Newport Beach.

Rabbi Bernard King said he proposed the program to his congregation as a way to make a “bridge” between Orange County communities such as Newport Beach and Santa Ana. As he told the youngsters at the ceremony: “I thought schools are a great way for us to get to know each other.”

Rosenberg is one of dozens of temple members who have since gone to the school to discuss their professions with the students and to serve as mentors.

From the start, Rosenberg had one goal: “to reach the children and provide some sort of emotional connection so that they can feel that I’m their friend--to be a role model and show that you can succeed if you really work hard.”

As she did last year, Rosenberg kicked off the contest by speaking at an assembly in which she told her rags-to-riches story (she recently received a multimillion-dollar, multiple book contract) and how, as a child, she she used writing to help deal with the emotional trauma of being sexually abused.

“It’s extremely inspiring,” said King’s wife, Barbara, who teaches at Willard. “They get very excited when they know she’s coming. Nancy is very real, so when she talks to the kids she just puts everything out to them.”

Rosenberg has only one requirement for the contest: that the students write at least 1,000 words, enough so “they get the feeling of writing. I tell them they can use any kind of language. If I see a bad word I’m not going to faint. I tell them I want them to use their own voices.”

The more than 50 youngsters who entered the contest this year ranged from those in the gifted student program to those with limited English proficiency.

Entries ranged from Nga Ta’s story of girl who is beaten and raped by her boyfriend to Billy Rowley’s fictionalized account of a Civil War battle. Other entries dealt with abusive family situations, anorexia and gangs. “They tap into what they see going around them,” Rosenberg said.

In addition to three top winners, who received cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25, 12 students received honorable mentions.

But even those who didn’t win were presented with a certificate of participation, a long-stemmed carnation and a copy of a six-page letter from Rosenberg urging them to be relentless in pursuing their goals and reminding them that they are responsible for their futures regardless of their environment.

Rosenberg also encouraged the students at the assembly “to keep (the contest) in mind and over the summer do more reading, do more writing, expand the stories you submitted this year.”

And there’s an added incentive for shooting for the top.

Rosenberg said she has made a commitment to be their mentor for life. “As long as they write, I’m going to help them, advise them, read their work and help them get into print and guide their career.”

In Andrew’s case, Rosenberg has already shown her editor at Dutton a copy of his entry.

“She was very impressed by what she saw,” said Rosenberg, who plans to help nurture Andrews’ writing and believes that if he works hard at it that by the time he’s 20 “he could be a respected novelist.

“What I’m trying to say is I have all these resources to help these kids--agents, publishers--people that will listen. If I bring them along and get them working toward it, I can get them into print. So it’s not like they’re just writing blind, working and working and nothing will ever come of it.”

Barbara King said Rosenberg has given many students hope.

“Some of the students (already) thought that they were writers,” she said, “but they just weren’t sure they were good enough, and she just really inspired them. She said, ‘You can do it; anybody can write.’ She tells them it doesn’t matter if you have grammatical mistakes; it’s strictly, ‘Go out there and express yourself.’ ”

Rosenberg proved to be an inspiration for third-place winner Nga Ta, who hadn’t done any writing except for classroom assignments before entering the contest and winning a second-place award last year.

“Before, I used to think I had nothing going for me and nothing to look forward to,” she said, “but now (the contest) really makes me feel like I’m good at something.”

Even Andrew, who says he has been writing since he learned to read and thinks becoming a novelist “would be a great idea,” was inspired by the contest:

“I really love it,” he said. “I mean, wow, I make some money, get to write: two of my favorite things.”

Rosenberg, who often travels around the country promoting her books, said she usually finds herself talking more about the writing contest than the books she’s there to promote. In July, she’ll be discussing the writing contest at a regional law enforcement conference in Tennessee.

“This is where my heart is,” she said. “If we can get these mentoring programs off the ground, we can make a difference.”