Charter school’s Owen Engler takes honors in state reading program

0
Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School sixth grade student Owen Engler holds up a copy of the book that helped him become a semi-finalist in the Level 1 Massachusetts Letters About Literature Program. — Photo courtesy of Paul Karasik

Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School sixth grade student Owen Engler, 11, is a semi-finalist in the Level 1 Massachusetts Letters About Literature Program.

Letters About Literature is a reading and writing program administered in the Commonwealth by the Massachusetts Center for the Book and nationally by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The program asks students to write letters to authors whose work has made a significant difference in their lives.

In his two page letter, Owen wrote to author Jeff Kinney. “I can relate to your book, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, because I have an older and a younger brother and I am in the middle,” Owen said. ” I am similar to the character, Greg, in your book because I get blamed for a lot of the stuff that happens around the house.”

Semi-finalists like Owen ranked in the top ten percent of letters read in the program state-wide, according to a press release. There were thousands of letters read and judged.