Celebration of Authors is sponsored by WINTRUST BANK
Purchase Tickets!
It’s both our annual gala AND a family-friendly, interactive festival!
Silent Auction! Games! Food + Drinks! Open Bar for adult guests! 360 Photo Booth! And of course, LIVE performances of stories written by our students for the 2024/25 School Year!
Attire: Fancy Schmancy where you can come Fancy – dressed to the nines in your best attire. Or you can come Schmancy – with a silly hat or funny outfit that expresses YOU!
You can bid on our amazing Silent Auction Prizes at the event, or remotely from anywhere! Silent Auction items include: A Trip to Mexico with Vidanta Resorts, A Sailing Excursion, An At-Home Dungeons & Dragons Session, Dining Packages, Sports Tickets, Theatre Tickets, and MORE! Stay tuned for a preview and get those bids ready!
This is the most affordable & most FUN Gala in town!
Tickets include food, drinks, a show, and activities for all ages!
Adult Regular Priced Tickets —$75
Youth Regular Price Tickets, ages 4 to 15 —$50
Children 3 years of age and under can attend for FREE
Mary Winn Heider is the author of over 30 books for kids, including THE LOSERS AT THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY, THE UNICORNS WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS, and THE STUPENDOUS SWITCHEROO series, which she co-created with Chad Sell. Mary Winn’s very first novel, THE MORTIFICATION OF FOVEA MUNSON, was based on her time working in a real life cadaver lab, and now that it’s a musical. In a School Library Journal column a few years ago, Betsy Bird wrote, “In an era of information overload, Mary Winn Heider is the author who will lead us through the pandemonium into the light.” Mary Winn’s books have been on state lists, appeared on Bank Street Best Books, received Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection status, been long-listed for the Edgar Award, and landed on Indies Introduce and Indie Next lists.But before all of that, Mary Winn was a company member with Playmakers Lab, where she spent a decade pretending to be a chicken, an astronaut, and a princess, and sometimes, all three at once.
This event is a fundraiser to support PML’s outstanding creative writing programming in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. 100% of the tickets proceeds will support PML classes! For 28 years PlayMakers Laboratory has served Chicago Public School students by providing a creative writing residency program aimed primarily at elementary schools. Our company of over 60 teaching artists utilize creative drama and storytelling to promote literacy and self esteem during our in-school residencies and park district programming. Each year, our programs serve more than 4,000 young people across Chicago. In our 6 week writing residencies, a whopping 88% of students improve writing scores by at least one level over the course of our residencies. Plus, 100% of classroom teachers report that our program supports their student’s writing and improves confidence and self-esteem.
PlayMakers Laboratory is sponsored in part by
The Chicago Community Trust,
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,
The Crown Family Philanthropies,
The Field Foundation,
The Mardi Gras Fund,
The Paul M. Angell Foundation,
The Polk Bros Foundation,
The Siragusa Family Foundation,
And generous Individuals like you!
By Abeer A., Berger Park
Poems
That's Weird, Grandma
My heart is the best. It helps me breathe.
I like it very much.
If it stops I won’t breathe. I might die if it stops.
I would always like it if it does not stop.
That is a very bad thing
I like it very much
It is a thing I want to know: how it looks like
It would be a dream come true to see my heart
It would look so cool.
That is going to be my favorite part.
I would want to see my heart
I’ve been trying to see it for my whole life almost
That is why that is said
And I would want to do that very quickly
Because it is my favorite
Now that my heart is a superhero I see it
It is very gooey, it has water in it and dots too.
And but it tastes good
I like it very much
It tastes like strawberry
I love it very much
It saves all kinds of animals and animals only
Which I would like to be my friend always too
My heart is very smart
It pumps blood all through my body
It gives me air too
I love it very much
If I see it high I will give it a high five
Although it is my body, I will talk to it all the time
That is my final and last warning
By Lanesha R., Diamond R., Tierra C., Malissa C., Willa Cather Academy
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time a biker named KeKe was biking too fast. She hit a speed bump and fell. She hurt her leg and a stick went through her chest. She went to the hospital and they hooked her up to a machine that checked her heart. The machine was going faster and faster and she couldn’t breathe. All of the injuries were too much and she died. Keke came back as an evil robot and destroyed the town. The End
By Kyle T. & Angel H., Columbia Explorers Academy
Dialogues
That's Weird, Grandma
Setting: Alley
WM: Where are we?
CM: (digging in trash) We are in a dumpster.
WM: (shaking) I am missing an arm.
CM: (yelling) Oh my god you’re missing an arm!
WM: You’re shorter, you’re missing a row.
CM: How do we get out!
WM: Who would throw out a chain saw?
RL: I’ve been here for years.
CM: Who said that?
WM: (looking around) Looks like an old lemon
RL: (weirdly) There’s no way out.
RL: (weirdly) There’s no way out.
WM: But there’s a ladder!
CM: Let’s go already!
RL: Don’t go.
WM: Let’s go dude.
RL: I have candy.
WM: Chocolate man is chocolate.
CM: I’m milk chocolate!
The End
By Edwin G., Lorca
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time a man couldn’t swim because he was not a swimmer and one day he work as a life guard. One time a man was drowning. He was in a beach and went to save the many and finally he swim and he swam to the man to rescue him. The End.
By Roberto P., Avondale-Logandale
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time in 1st grade I was so mad and sad I felt like I was going to blow up. I felt like it was 220 degrees Celsius. I was so mad because my teacher said we are going to have a test in 4 days it was a science test on temperature. So school day was over so I packed my science notes and science book. I studied 3 hours on temperature. I stayed up from 8 to 11 studying and studying. My head hurt. I was waiting for the clock to hit 11 the noise made me crazy click clock click clock click clock click clock. I was sick and tired about that noise. I did the same for the past 4 days until my teacher said test time. I was so tired so sleepy 1 hour later I finished. Everybody finished. We passed it to the teacher. She graded it and what did I get a F. I was mad. I learned that if you’re going to study, do it in the day or you’re going to be sleepy when you take the test and you can’t concentrate. The End.
By Joe C., Loyola Park After School Program
That's Weird, Grandma
Joe the Shark was very hungry. He could eat a whale shark but Fishy Fred like whale shark so Fishy Fred ate it. Joe the Shark was mad. He did not like Fishy Fred but he could not find him, so Joe the Shark looked for him and you can’t believe it he found him in the toilet and the Mississippi River and Joe the Shark slipped an finally caught Fishy Fred and Joe the Shark was full because Fishy Fred was as fat and big as a Whale Shark. The End.
By Darrin J., Chalmers
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time there was a goat that eat everything. I twas one thing he can’t eat. It was a metal pole. So he did but he choke. He spit it out and that is the end.
By Jairo M and Christopher S., LORCA ACADEMY
Dialogues
That's Weird, Grandma
Characters: Monkey 1, Monkey 2
Setting: City, abandon hotel
M1: Lets throw a party
M2: Okay but first I need to buy some stuff.
M1: How much do you need
M2: I need $400
M1: That’s more than I get in my job in a week.
M2: Lets both go to work.
The next day…
M1: I hate going to work because its so hard!!!!
M2: Me too because I am tired.
M1: We just need $100 dollars more. I am going to get a banana.
The next day…
M2: We got $400 dollars!!
M1: We can throw are party.
M1/M2: We both cheered and they threw the party but only one monkey came we just wasted that for nothing.
M1: We forgot to mail the invitation
M2: ow Bananas.
M1: Speaking of bananas I am hungry.
M2: what what what what we’re out of money so we can’t buy bananas
M1: Come on!!
The End?
By Malissa C and Diamond R., Willa Cather Academy
Dialogues
That's Weird, Grandma
Characters: PRince, Princess
PRINCESS: (nervous) I need to pick a dress but don’t know which one to pick.
PRINCE: I will pick for you and we shall be on our way.
PRINCESS: (excited) Oh my God thank you! I was having such a hard time, but I don’t have heels and a crown.
PRINCE: (impatient) We’ll buy a white crown and white heels on our way there. (They get in a black and white limo)
The End.
PRINCESS by Malissa C
I was born in 2005 and I am 22 years old and I was a princess was having a hard time looking a dress then got mad because she couldn’t’ find it but the prince find it for her. They went to New York City and eat at a restaurant. Then the prince take her to find a car so she could go back home and get some sleep. Then her mom wake her up so she can go and eat breakfast and go to work at New York City. The restaurant she went to is Subway and she got on an elevator to take care of her baby sister. The end.
PRINCE AND PRINCESS by Diamond R
I was born in July 19 and I am 23 year old. I am afraid of cats because cats have hair over clothes. I tried to wash cats but they scratch me. It hurts! I’ll never buy cats no more because I had to buy so many bandaids to make the scratches stop hurting. I found the princess and we got married and lived in a Royal house in New York. There was only 1 cat that lived with me in one royal room. It was the kitchen. We cook breakfast and have a nice dinner and live happily ever after. That they has a baby named Zoe. The End
By Emilio A., Columbia Explorer’s Academy
That's Weird, Grandma
1. Yo creo que la tarea es importante porque tenemos que haler cosas en la casa. 2. Yo creo que la tarea es importante porque asi apendemos en la casa y la escuela. 3. Yo creo que la tarea es importante porque no has que damos todo el dia jugando sin hacer nada o perdiento el tiempo.
En conclusión el mundo reira meiror con seria mejor.
English translation:
HOMEWORK IS IMPORTANT 1. I think homework is important because her have to do stuff at at home. 2. I think homework is important because by doing it, we learn at home and in school. 3. I think homework is important because you shouldn’t spend all day playing without doing anything or wasting time.
In conclusion, the world would be better.
