Newtown High School and Danbury High School students were honored for their work selected and compiled for the Third Annual Rotary Book Project in a recognition ceremony held at the NHS cafetorium on Wednesday, May 1.

The book, titled From My Heart, is a collection of student submissions ranging from poems, short stories, and essays to photography, art, and music that was edited by the Newtown and Danbury Rotary clubs. They established a committee in 2023 to compile all student work for the project.

While the idea of the collection started as a writing project, it expanded into other forms of artistic expression on the suggestion of former Newtown Rotary Club President Alex Villamil.

To Villamill, he saw the project as an opportunity for students to express themselves and “shout out who they are” through their work.

Fellow Newtown Rotary Club member Stuart Dean, who spearheaded this project alongside Villamill, said that the goal of the project was “to give high school students a chance to write, perform, and create for someone other than their teacher.”

“The purpose of this is a celebration, to celebrate these young people who were willing to go outside their skin and put themselves out for review by the world, and it shows in their work,” Dean said.

The tables in the cafetorium were decked out in yellow and blue table covers for the event, with a sign-in table by one of the entrances where people could pick up a copy of From My Heart alongside pamphlets to learn more about Rotary.

Newtown Rotary Club President Vern Chong thanked both NHS and DHS for the opportunity to compile work from their students and for their support of the project.

“We do all these projects around this time of year, and this is easily one of my favorites,” Chong said. “Getting to work with the students and seeing the work that comes out of it … I had the privilege of reviewing the work and thought it was fantastic.”

Over 100 students, family, friends, staff, and more were in attendance and treated to a special dinner catered by HillTop Kitchen at the Village for the event.

Attendees could fill up their plate with a varied selection of food that included salad with carrots and tomatoes, garlic knots, pasta with marinara sauce and meatballs, and red velvet chocolate chip cookies.

After eating and short speeches from those affiliated with the project, students had the chance to go up in front of everyone and either perform or talk about their piece.

Villamill feels as though the project has only gotten bigger and better over the past three years. He also said they are looking to potentially include another town in the project going forward.

“We want to bring people with different backgrounds together, and I think we managed to achieve that tonight,” Villamill said. “Everyone was talking together, eating together, sharing what they wrote … The kids get to see themselves published, their parents get to see their kids published, and the teachers get to see their kids published. It’s just such a great project.”

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.