BY VICTORIA HURLEY-SCHUBERT
Staff Writer
Paul Watkins For 15-year-old Oly Khowash, reading is a longstanding tradition.”There’s an Indian tradition, usually around age 5, an elder makes you write something,” said Oly, who is a junior at Manalapan High School. “I started to try to write before that, so at age 2 my grandfather did it for me then. If you’re going to write, you better be able to read it.”
This love for the written word was what brought about 300 students from the six schools in the Freehold Regional High School District to the Enthusiastic Reader Awards event which honored their dedication to reading outside the classroom.
The May 10 celebration held at the Battleground Country Club, Manalapan, marked the sixth year for the awards, which are handed out annually.
Most of the students agreed that their love of books began early and has led to discoveries of far away places.
“I was always read to as a child,” said Colin Strieby, 16, a junior at Manalapan High School. “My dad would do impersonations of the characters; it infused a love of reading.”
This passion brings Leah Hoffman, 17, outside the walls of Marlboro High School where she is a senior.
“I get to discover what’s out there outside of Marlboro,” Leah said, mentioning that she loves science fiction most. “I like to see the other side of the world.”
As part of the day’s program students listened to author Paul Watkins tell the tale of Timmy the hamster, who met his untimely demise in a car engine, an awkward birds and bees discussion with his father, and the experiences of a first love, while reading a chapter from his novel “Stingray.”
Afterward, Watkins fielded questions from the students that ranged from writing advice to his love life. (Watkins has been married for 17 years).
Watkins said his writing, which he never expected to do, is driven by the need to tell a story.
“It wasn’t something I wanted to do; it was something I had to do,” the British-born author said as he explained how a high school trip as an exchange student to Germany changed his life. His host father was a ground solider at the age of 17 and SS solider in Hitler’s army during the Battle of the Bulge. This story was turned into part of his first novel, “Night Over Day Over Night.”
“I got that story in my head and couldn’t get it out. Writing is like an exorcism … I had to get it out,” Watkins said after Melissa Gall, 16, a sophomore at Freehold Township High School, asked what made him decide to write.
In addition to his writing, Watkins teaches one class a semester at the Peddie School in Hightstown.