Creative Writing
Students at Metz had the chance to discover creative writing as a way of engaging with the broader community. In 1994, students in the O'Henry Writing Club wrote persuasive letters to President Bill Clinton and their Texas senators encouraging them to create a stamp featuring Elvis Presley's face. In a published essay on Cesar Chavez, Metz student Raquel Reyes wrote an exploratory essay that won a statewide writing competition. Bound and laminated, this essay was preserved in the school library in honor of its accomplishments. These individual essays demonstrate the independent writings of students at Metz Elementary.
The O'Henry writing club featured collective writing on many topics and in many forms. Included in this collection are a series of sections: "Fantastic Fiction," numerous fictional short stories by a variety of students; "At The Movies," a compilation of screenplays; "To Rhyme or Not To Rhyme," featuring a diversity of poetry; and "Comic Creations," with illustrations and descriptions of each student's cartoon character.
Cesar Chavez by Raquel Reyes, a Metz elementary school fifth grader in 1994, was preserved in the school library, building on the inlfuence of Cesar Chavez within the Metz community. This essay was broken into three sections, "The Life of Cesar Chavez", "My Opinions" and a bibliography. Essentially, Reyes took a biographical approach to Cesar Chavez's life, then explored how his life impacted her, and what she thought of him. Including a bibliography at the end and having won awards, this essay was high-level and academically sophisticated for a fifth grader.
These writings demonstrated the initiative Metz students took in their expression of writing. Whether it is through joining the O'Henry writing club or submitting writing to a Texas competition, these writings preserved exemplified the importance of writing to these students.
Following the Cesar Chavez essay by Raquel Reyes, there was a certificate commemorating Metz Elementary and its contritbution to the memory of civil rights. Titled "Si Se Puede" the certificate praises Metz for its involvement in a Cesar Chavez writing contest in 1993. This certificate was given by the United Farm Workers and was signed by their president as well as a representative.
Student Book Projects
These student book projects featured personal stories of students and their families, riddle books with pictures of themselves, and a student book of why the students of the Gonzales class loved Metz Elementary. The two student books, "A Day With My Family" by Azyrah Brownfield and "My Family" by Camron Jackson, were both written and illustrated to describe and express the students' experiences with their family. Every page was either illustrated or featured explanatory writing by the student. Each book was dedicated to someone and featured "2016 Metz Publishing Company."
These riddle books featured riddles with pages that can be lifted within the page with an answer to the riddle. These craft books were each unique and were filled with the creativity of each student. Lastly, the graduation book "Things I Love About Metz" featured a statement that each student enjoyed as well as an illustration that depicted the thing they enjoyed. These student writings all allowed for the creative expression of the students.
Poetry
These two poetry books featured a compilation of student poetry. The first book, written by the fourth grade class of 2009-2010, featured a variety of fonts and poetic genres. Each student wrote about drastically different things, and the book demonstrates diversity in student writing. The second book, "Poems of the People" is a binder full of poems written by students for the school's centennial celebration. These collections of poems built on the creativity in the writing of the students of Metz Elementary.
Contests & Published Works
This published book was a compilation of poetry and short stories across all of the elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District. It also featured writing from the junior high schools and was put together by an Administrative Supervisor within the school district. These writings came together from a Young Authors Conference and featured three pieces from Metz Elementary. These writings served to demonstrate how the work of the students at Metz Elementary fit into the greater context of student's school writing in Austin.