Classroom Happenings: Steward Welcomes Author Tracy Trivas

Children are natural storytellers. They dream, imagine, invent, and find inspiration everywhere, and they delight in the magic of storytelling. Every Spartan is filled with stories! 

On January 10, Fifth Grade Teacher Heidi Bailey’s students had the opportunity to learn from author Tracy Trivas (parent of Hadley Trivas ’26), who visited campus to chat about the writing process. Ms. Trivas is the author of the middle-grade novel, “The Wish Stealers,” which tells the tale of a girl named Griffin Penshine who must return stolen wishes to undo a curse and save her loved ones. 

Author visits such as this one highlight the core values that are part of Steward’s Compass 2028 strategic plan (innovation, inspiration, care & respect, individuality, academic achievement, and civil discourse). All are touchpoints in Ms. Bailey’s writing lessons, in which students create, work together, express their individuality, and hone their listening and communication skills. 

Ms. Trivas began by asking the fifth graders, “What are some things you wish for?” Hands shot up into the air. 

“The health of my family,” said one student. 

“World peace,” exclaimed another.

“More sweatshirts!” said a student, smiling broadly. 

“Yes!” said Ms. Trivas, adding that all ideas can help writing take shape. The plot of her book, she said, began several years ago when she was living in California. She had stopped by an outdoor fountain to toss in a coin and make a wish — and saw a man scooping out handfuls of coins. “I watched as he walked to a coffee shop with those coins and bought a cup of coffee,” said Ms. Trivas. I thought to myself, ‘He drank their wishes. Hmm …. I’m going to write a book about this.’” 

Writing is a process, said Ms. Trivas, and things don’t always go smoothly. When the draft of “The Wish Stealer” was accepted by a publisher, it was returned to her with lots of suggestions for edits. She gave examples of famous people who were faced with personal and professional struggles but persevered. Martin Luther King Jr., Marie Curie, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling: All faced challenges and rejections. Ms. Trivas shared some of her writing tips (“I always write my first draft in longhand”) and encouraged students to be daring and courageous and to never give up on their literary pursuits. 

Wishes are universal, noted Ms. Trivas. In Ireland, there’s the four-leaf clover. Japan celebrates an annual “wish festival” each July 7. Italy’s famous Trevi fountain attracts thousands of visitors each year who throw coins over their shoulders and make wishes. In the U.S., we blow on dandelions, wish on shooting stars, and toss pennies into fountains. “Why do we wish?” she asked. “It gives us permission to dream, and to say, ‘This is what I want!’”

Ms. Bailey said, “In class, we’ve been learning about the writing process, specifically as it relates to the narrative form. Students are discovering the elements that make for good writing and captivating reading. Plot, setting, character development, tone, theme … our young writers are turning ideas into fantastic, one-of-a-kind stories.”

She added that the fifth graders loved the author's visit; in fact, some of the students are creating a book club to read “The Wish Stealers.” 

“They loved that she mentioned many of the same revision strategies that we talk about in class like deleting, adding, word choice, and research,” said Ms. Bailey. “It was particularly exciting to me that she talked about dialogue [Steward’s schoolwide theme for 2024-25] and how her husband had to rewrite the boy’s dialogue in her book to make it more authentic.” In the coming weeks, Ms. Bailey’s students will be working on dialogue.

“I will remind them about Ms. Trivas’ revision strategy and how important it can be to research how characters talk. That is so important to character development.”