National Public Radio will be in Hopewell on Oct. 2 when the producer of the show “This I Believe” comes to hear what HoVal residents have to say on that topic.
The event, which is set to take place in the Hopewell Valley Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m., will feature 8th and 9th grade students from the district, as well as community members, reading short essays they have written on their beliefs on any topic. (Go online to npr.org and search for This I Believe for more information about the project.)
According to the program’s website, “This I Believe” is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. More than 100,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are heard on public radio, chronicled through books and featured in weekly podcasts.
The NPR website is a repository of essays written in the 1950s as well as in recent years. The show has been running on National Public Radio for four years.
The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.
Executive producer Dan Gediman will host the event, which is being funded by the school district and the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation. Gediman will also work with students in the classroom on Oct. 3, and attend meals sponsored by the Timberlane Parent-Teacher Organization.
The event grew out of the use of the “This I Believe” curriculum this summer. These educational curricula were designed to help educators guide students in the writing of a This I Believe essay appropriate for inclusion in school writing portfolios. Teachers assigned students to read from a collection of the essays and write their own.
Central High School teachers Johanna Claps, Andy Paull and David Sherwin were involved with the effort, along with Timberlane teacher Jamie Adler.
Members of the community are invited to submit essays they have written that they would like to read at the event. Those who are interested can find more information online at hvrsd.org/academics/languagearts/ThisIBelieve/pages/default.aspx for details. Essays can be sent via email to thisibelieve@hvrsd.org.
“We are so excited about this event,” said Language Arts and Social Studies supervisor Sara Graja. “It’s worth remembering that students’ education doesn’t end when they leave the classroom, and this is a perfect example of that.
“The essays center on the values that shape who we are as individuals and members of our larger community,” she said.
