New Philadelphia, OH – The East Central Ohio Educational Service Center (ECOESC) held the first day of the Young Authors’ & Illustrators’ Conference and Competition hosted by ​​Kent State University Tuscarawas on Friday, October 21. The creative event was open to fifth and ninth graders in school districts in Tuscarawas and Guernsey Counties. Students from New Philadelphia City Schools, Dover City Schools, East Guernsey Local Schools, Indian Valley Local Schools, Newcomerstown Exempted Village Schools, and Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools attended the workshop. 

The event was a kickstart to help students begin creating an 8-10 page story with illustrations to submit to a panel of judges in January. Students were separated into groups based on their age and explored different workshops to help them create stories and illustrations. Some of the students identified as illustrators and attended the drawing workshop, while their partners, the authors, took part in the writing session. 

The guest speakers were published authors Michael Salinger and Sara Holbrook and local artist Greg Scott, who led their respective workshops about writing and illustrating approaches. After some time spent working on those skills, the young creatives were encouraged to discuss their ideas in a group setting and collaborate with partners to develop and expand their initial ideas. 

The final day of the conference will be on February 24, 2023, where each submitted project will be discussed and awards will be presented in several categories including best collaboration, best story and best illustration for each grade. This annual conference is hosted by the East Central Ohio ESC as part of their student programming efforts.