BY ALINE REYNOLDS | Having to overcome stage fright, Manhattan Academy of Technology (P.S. 126) 7th grader William Silverman mustered the courage to read aloud his award-winning essay to strangers and his English class peers on Fri., June 17.
The first-person work highlights William’s compassion for his twin brother, Thomas Silverman, whose severe involuntary movements, brought on by Tourette’s syndrome, causes him much hardship. “I watch him, and it has to be challenging for him not knowing what the day will bring,” William’s essay read. “Still, he keeps on trying his best to succeed.”
Thomas inspired William to write the piece and enter it into the “Courage in My Community” contest, a national writing competition he won over 400 other youths from middle schools across the country.
“I’m nervous. I just read an essay in front of big people,” said William.
He is able to overcome these and other fears, he said, thanks largely to his brother.
Officials who appeared at the school Friday to present William with the award said his essay was the most compelling and beautifully written of the batch.“He clearly understood what it means to be courageous,” said Elizabeth Evans, one of the competition judges.
William spent nearly two months crafting and revising the piece, according to his English teacher, Elizabeth Pollak, who praised the student for his commitment to writing.
“He spent a lot of time working on it, editing it and perfecting it,” said Pollak. “He puts so much description and so much heart into everything that he writes. When he has an idea, he really develops it fully.”
William said he couldn’t have won the competition without Pollak’s guidance. “She’s really encouraging. She’s never like, ‘you’ll never get anywhere in life.’ She’s always like, ‘keep trying and you’ll do your best.’”
While William aspires to be a middle school math teacher, he says he relishes writing and reading. His favorite book is David Lubar’s young adult novel, “Sleeping Freshman Never Lie,” a tale of the coming-of-age experiences of a 14-year-old high school student.
The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum organization, the award’s sponsors, rewarded William with an iPod Touch and gave the school a writing and reading software program.
William said he planned to give the iPod to Thomas. “He really needs it, because the electronics calm him down,” he said.
The brothers play computer games, shop and take walks together. William says he receives as much moral support from Thomas as he gives to his sick brother. “Every day before school, he always says, ‘do your best in school,’ and when I get home, he asks how my day went,” said William.
“We’re all very close… he sees a lot of love in the house, and he’s inspired by that,” said the boys’ single father, Walter Silverman. “[William] watches the brother and how hard it is sometimes for him to go to school.”
William’s peers entered other writing competitions this year, such as the Ezra Jack Keats bookmaking competition, the Young Voices of America short story constest, the Weekly Reader publishing contest and the World War II museum contest.
While none of the others were finalists, P.S. 126’s English curriculum, Pollak said, strengthens’ the youths writing skills and motivates them to enter into the competitions. “It allows for kids to take ownership of their writing process. Because we have such an open curriculum, they can expand their horizons and try new genres,” she said. Pollak and other P.S. 126 staff members hope to implement the Max Warburg Courage Curriculum in the school next year.
The Boston-based program was inspired by 12-year-old Max Warburg, who lost a hard-fought battle of leukemia in 1991. “We thought if other people could learn by his example, they’d feel better and do better in their lives,” Founder and President Stephanie Warburg told the P.S. 126 seventh graders.
