Faculty alum revives long-standing 6th grade Book Project for her present day classes. 

If you had the chance to write a book as a kid, what would you write about? Now imagine writing that book, and then 15 years later using it as a teaching tool to help 6th graders understand the book writing process.

Enter in English instructor Claire Zagrodzky ’16 who titled her own 6th grade book “Replay.” She is now “replaying” the project, giving her 6th grade class the same literary gift and confidence booster that her teacher Vicki Woodruff gave her as a pre-teen. 

Zagrodzky recalls the full circle moment in college while earning her teaching degree. She says professors would often ask, “Who was your favorite teacher?” The follow-up question would always be, “What did they do that was so impactful?”

“I would always say Vicki Woodruff because we did this crazy project [in 6th grade] where I felt like I was actually capable of doing something so big at such a young age,” said Zagrodzky. “I think it really set me up for the rest of my St. Stephen's career.”

Zagrodzky still has her book “Replay.” Its story centers around a 13-year-old girl who keeps reliving the same terrible day over and over again, while trying to figure out how to break the cycle.

“It came from my own brain, and every part of it was mine,” said Zagrodzky. “It took months to do. I felt very confident with that in my back pocket, and it was also fun.”

Zagrodzky says it all started with what Ms. Woodruff referred to as The Book Project. Woodruff, who was continuing a tradition from the English teacher who preceded her (Meg Phillips), tasked her 6th graders with writing an original short story that contained essential key elements of a compelling narrative. Students were given full creative control to design their own book jackets — which included illustrating the front and back cover art, and writing a short book teaser and “About the Author” section. Each page was laminated and bound together to preserve its  quality, and longevity, and to match a similar look and feel to other books on students’ shelves at home.

When Zagrodzky returned to The Hill in the 2024-25 academic year, she was determined to restart the project in the winter term. During the fall term, she laid a foundation with her students by having them read several short stories, and then break down the common elements and key stages: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. 

In January, the students were ready. Zagrodzky kicked things off by standing at the front of her classroom and reading the book out loud she created at their age, a point of pride she has held onto all these years. 

Spartans worked hard from January through early March crafting their short stories — making sure they had a beginning, middle and end, while also thinking through how the characters were going to solve whatever problem they presented. The process included students creating an exposition, a literary device that communicates key background information to the reader about characters, the setting, important plot points, or historically significant events that contribute to the story.

Students leaned on personal experiences, emotions and current events to inspire their writing, making each book uniquely different. Ellis Lowry ’31 wrote about the Los Angeles wildfires in her book titled “Rebuilding What We Lost.” Liam Askwith ’31 took readers on a journey of what life is like living in a video game world in "Luke's Cyberspace Adventure," and Hudson Carter ’31 tackled the horror genre with his book about a doll in an attic who was scaring the child who lived there. The books were laminated and bound, and displayed on tables in the lobby of Gunn Hall right before Spring Break for parents to enjoy.

Zagrodzky says her students are already putting what they learned from the Book Project into action. For example, when the class started reading “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton after Spring Break they were picking up on and appreciating the storyline much faster. They knew what to pay attention to in terms of main characters and the setting, and what might be important later. 

“I'm glad I did,” said Zagrodzky. “I think they liked it a lot.”