Don't let her Goldilocks-like curls and fluorescent pink hairclips fool you. Sixth grade student Rachel Chapnick is a serious scribe. As a contributing writer for well over a year to KidsPost, the monthly children's magazine published by The Palm Beach Post, this Boca Raton campus student recently had the opportunity to conduct a brief interview with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Because the interview followed Justice Breyer's address to the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches - a non-partisan political club - Rachel only had time to ask him a single question. "I asked him what advice he would give to young people who aspire to become a Supreme Court justice," says Rachel. His answer, she recalls, was to study hard, do well in school, and listen to other people. When probed about how nervous she must have been interviewing such an important person, Rachel's response was quite matter-of-fact: "I wasn't nervous - it was just another assignment."
Although clearly not intimidated, Rachel admits that it was an exciting experience, and she learned a lot from the research she conducted leading up to the interview. "I've been following it all [Judge Samuel Alito's appointment] very closely. I was talking with some of my friends about it outside of school, and we were trying to determine whether the Democrats would filibuster or whether [Judge Alito] would be confirmed." While not the usual playground banter of your average sixth grade student, Rachel's interest in the world around her is an impressive example of her thirst for knowledge and her already keen journalistic instinct. |
However, writing for KidsPost isn't all she's been up to lately. Rachel's latest two-act play (she's penned a total of three), A Seed of Faith, was recently selected as a winner in this year's Florida Stage's Young Playwrights Festival. The play, one of ten selected from two hundred and thirty-three submissions, concerns a family who encounters a homeless man at their annual church retreat. The twist comes at the end when the family discovers the man is actually an angel. The winning plays will receive a staged reading by professional actors at Florida Stage on April 10.
While much of this creativity and talent comes from Rachel's natural ability, she credits her tutor, Dr. Helen Gilmore, for helping her rediscover her passion for writing. "I always loved to write," Rachel confesses, "but after some trouble in second grade, I really wasn't interested in writing at all. When I began working with Dr. Gilmore, writing became fun again." Rachel's mother, Mrs. Sharon Chapnik, agrees. "To have the ability to speak publicly and communicate through writing is such a special gift," she says, and while Mrs. Chapnick believes the help Rachel received from Dr. Gilmore is priceless, what she seems most proud of is her daughter's selfless motivation to help others through her writing. "Rachel wants our church to perform one of her plays, charge admission, and donate all of the proceeds to the homeless." |
