Every winter students across Chatham County can be found crafting secret plots, fictional heroes, and imagined worlds. Not to cause mischief, but to hone their writing skills as they work on their masterpieces for Chatham County Schools’ Young Authors program. Between January and March, all students in grades K-8 are encouraged, but not required, to submit an original work to the program, which culminates in a district-wide ceremony celebrating the top submissions.
This year–2026–marks the 35th year of the program (there was a pause during COVID), which was founded in 1989 by Mary Lee Moore, a school librarian for 47 years. “Every student has an opportunity to become an author,” is the premise of the program, and students may choose whether they simply want to publish their pieces on a shared website or enter a contest judged first at the school level, then the district level.
To build excitement and get students’ creative juices flowing, the district invites a featured author to visit all of the elementary, middle, and K-8 schools. Tate Godwin, an author, illustrator, and Chatham County native, is this year’s featured author. At each school, Godwin talks about his writing process and his graphic novel Operation: Cover Up, then guides students as they try their hands at producing their own graphic stories.
School media specialists also hype the program by implementing lessons on the writing process during library class. And there’s a website with links to a kickoff activity and other writing resources, including character development and story mapping for wordless books. All families should have received a letter about the program with a link to the website in January.
Students are not graded on their submissions, and they may choose any type of story they’d like to write, including short stories, poems, and comic strips. To be published online or to enter the contest, all books must be received digitally by March 23, 2026. Books may be created using Book Creator or submitted as a PDF. School media specialists will provide an invite code for Book Creator and can assist students in creating PDFs. Check with your school to see how entries should be submitted.
Last school year, students submitted 460 entries, with numerous schools having 45+ submissions each. Pittsboro Elementary School (PES) had 85 submissions. Karen Jeremiah, PES’s media specialist, said PES teachers encourage their students to submit work they’ve completed in class. “Every student can benefit from having an audience engage with their work beyond their classroom walls, and Young Authors provides that,” Jeremiah said.
She also shared that students enjoy the Book Creator app and are motivated by the writing and illustrating tools the app provides. But what the students are most excited about are the physical books created. At PES, each story is printed out and bound using a comb binding machine, then kept in the library for others to read throughout the year. Another copy is sent home for each student to keep. “This takes a lot of time, binding combs, paper, and copier toner to achieve, but we believe a tangible book a child can turn the pages through at this age holds equal value to the books they enjoy creating and sharing on their screens,” Jeremiah said.
Each school has its own way of making the Young Authors program special. Siler City Elementary and Bonlee School brought an additional author—New York Times bestselling author Kate Messner—to speak to their students. Messner has written more than three dozen books for kids with the graphic novel Camp Monster being her most recent, just published this February. The author shared her writing journey, discussed the process of writing a graphic novel, and helped students create their own monster character.
Once students have finished their own stories and submitted them to their respective schools, judges (media specialists, teachers, etc.) assess the stories based on a district-developed rubric—which can be found on the website. Scores are based on creativity, language conventions, authorial voice, and effort and attention to detail.
In mid-April, each school will announce its top three entries and send them on to the district level. These authors are invited to attend a red-carpet ceremony on May 14, 2026, during which the top entries in the district are announced. “The Young Authors program is a source of great pride for Chatham County Schools and a distinguishing opportunity compared to neighboring districts,” said Dr. Kira C. Berggren, CCS Director for Digital Teaching and Learning. “It allows students to become published authors without needing to illustrate, print, or bind their own work. The success of the program is due to the tireless efforts of our teachers, librarians, instructional support staff, and community partners, who support students by organizing and proofreading submissions and scoring them using our rubric.”
While the Young Authors program is not a required assignment, it’s a great opportunity for students to explore their creativity and see themselves as writers. Families are encouraged to invite their children to give it a try—whether by publishing a story online or submitting an entry for judging—because every student has a story worth sharing.