Youth author inspires other children with epilepsy

By Erin Rose

A Raymond youth is using his experience with juvenile epilepsy to help others as they learn to live with the condition.

Weston Quinn. 9, of Raymond has written and
illustrated a book called 'Juvenile Epilepsy
Warrior' describing his experience being
diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy at age 7 and
how he's learned to thrive despite the diagnosis.
He will be on hand to autograph copies of his 
book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at Play
Warriors, 840 Roosevelt Trail in Windham.
COURTESY PHOTO  

Weston Quinn, 9, is the author and illustrator of “Juvenile Epilepsy Warrior,” a book that details his experience being diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy at age 7 and how he’s learned to thrive despite the diagnosis.

“It’s scary to tell the stories,” Weston said, but says that he “loved the ability to talk through my epilepsy journey.”

His mom, Hannah, said that the book has helped Weston communicate with others about the struggles he’s faced.

“It’s been amazing watching Weston use his story to help others,” she said. “He doesn’t realize how powerful his words are yet. When it comes to even talking to his friends about his experience, it made such a huge impact.”

Weston also completed the illustrations in the book, creating images that represent different stages of his diagnosis. One image shows blood in a needle, which represented the first day he had a seizure, Weston said.

Another image shows Kimberly Leighton, the founder of Play Warriors in Windham, as the pair apply electrodes to a doll to help Weston understand how an Electroencephalogram (EEG) would work.

“The artwork helped work through his fears,” Hannah said.

Leighton explained that the book was a result of Weston’s journey through child life therapy, which takes a different approach to helping children through difficult times in their lives, including medical diagnoses, grief, and trauma by providing medical play and therapeutic interventions, coping strategies and relaxation techniques.

“When working with a kiddo, we catalog their time with session notes and some dialogue, images and projects,” she said, pointing out that once a child is nearing the end of their time with the center, they have a mass of accumulated work that can be used to build a book to help others.

“I ask now that we have all of this information, what would you want people to know about what happened to you and what that might feel like,” Leighton said. “For some kiddos like Weston, they want to go on and help other kids, so this is a great avenue for kids that want that sense of agency and get to a point where they can tell their story.”

“Part of telling their story, there is a lot of healing in that,” she said. “That’s why therapeutic expression, whether it’s through art or telling a story, it helps process what you’re going through.”

Weston is one of several young authors at Play Warriors, as this is the sixth book published by the program’s participants, with another four books in progress currently. Other topics covered include childhood cancer, grief and loss.

The books are published by Books That Heal, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting children facing medical or emotional battles to publish their stories. Leighton explained that the book’s proceeds are split between the nonprofit and a charity chosen by the child who penned the book.

“It’s going back to the charity forever and will continue to grow,” she said, explaining that Weston chose the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation to receive the funds from his work. “It’s a great way to have the book be a final capstone to his success and his work that he went through.”

The Play Warriors program also helped Weston discover more self-confidence and work through his anxieties around his condition, including going to school and interacting with his peers and friends.

“He was afraid of having a seizure at school,” Hannah said, “His friends knew he was going through something, but they just didn’t realize quite how hard it was.”

Through his child life therapy, Weston has been able to process his anxieties and fears, enabling him to face school and sports with confidence and joy.

“He carries himself with more confidence and self-esteem,” Leighton said. “He’s not looking at his diagnosis as limiting. It’s about ‘what can I still do’.”

Hannah said that Weston’s new sureness is most evident when he is interacting with the world, especially when he is playing point guard on the basketball court or as a striker and forward on the soccer field.

“We get to see his joy when he is either on the basketball court, on the soccer field, spending time with his friends and his cousins and all of his family,” she said. “We get to see him shine when he goes to school and all of the things he’s doing at school, as he had a hard time going to school for a while. He is shy, but once you get to know him, he is an absolute joy to know.”

Weston is a part of Team Impact, which pairs children who are facing serious illnesses or disability with college sports teams. Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, located in Standish, participates in the program for their men’s baseball, soccer and lacrosse teams and their women’s volleyball, field hockey, and soccer teams.

Weston’s books may be purchased online from Amazon, and he will be signing copies of his book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at Play Warriors, the sole child life therapy provider in Maine, located at 840 Roosevelt Trail in Windham.

More details can be found at the Play Warriors website, www.playwarriorsinc.com, or on their Facebook page. <

Author’s visit ignites literary and artistic excitement in elementary students

By Lorraine Glowczak

Two weeks ago, the second- and third-grade students at Raymond Elementary School (RES) and Windham Primary School (WPS) hosted a distinguished guest, John Patrick Green, the author and illustrator of the beloved graphic novel InvestiGators and Agents of S.U.I.T series.

Through engaging storytelling and illustration, Green not only entertained but sparked enthusiasm for reading among the students.

Windham Primary School third grader Carter
Caswell has eight books by graphic novelist
and illustrator John Patrick Green, who recently 
visited Raymond Elementary School and WPS
and gave a presentation to students. Carter
was able to have Green sign one of his books
for hm. PHOTO BY ASHLEY CASWELL  

RES third-grade teacher Carolynne Bacon said that Green engaged the audience by weaving humor into his stories, describing his early experiences of reading and illustrating during his elementary school years.

“The story of his youth resonated with the students, who recognized a few parallels between John's journey and their own, inspiring them to embrace their passion for graphic novels while fostering a love for reading," she said.

Bacon explained that Green promoted graphic novels as an authentic reading experience that enhances their vocabulary, improves reading appreciation, and helps to understand plot and character development like any other novel.

“Students experienced a boost of confidence upon realizing that graphic novels are also considered as ‘real’ literature,” she said. “They are often told that graphic novels are not ‘true’ books.”

Amy Jorgensen, a WPS third grade teacher agreed, sharing an additional way Green connected with the students.

“He engaged the students through illustrations, beginning with a drawing of Garfield while telling his origin story,” Jorgensen said. “Many students in the audience enjoy reading his books and his story made an impact. Some students bought signed copies as part of the event.”

One of those schoolchildren was WPS third grader Carter Caswell, who reads about two hours per day. He said that Green is one of his favorite authors, boasting a collection of eight books from Green's two prominent series.

Caswell shared a few highlights from the author’s visit.

“He told us that when he was a little kid, he was sick, so he drew a lot,” Caswell said. “He really liked to draw Garfield. He said he got so good at it that he started selling his drawings of the cat to his friends at school. The author got in trouble because his friends were spending their lunch money on his artwork. But he got in the most trouble because he did something called ‘copyrighting.’”

The author confirmed Caswell’s recollections.

“During my talk, I mentioned I had terrible asthma, and my allergies were really bad,” Green said. “I was diagnosed at 3 months old, spending a lot of time in emergency rooms throughout my youth with severe asthma attacks.”

Until medical advancements allowed him more freedom outdoors, Green spent most of his youth indoors reading and drawing his favorite comic strip character, Garfield.

“I got really good at drawing Garfield,” Green said. “Carter is right, my friends purchased my drawings with their lunch money. When the school called my mom to tell them that the children were spending their lunch money on my pictures of Garfield, she was a bit more concerned about another offense. She had to explain to me about copyright infringement.”

Jorgensen said that Green’s jovial authenticity and skill of connecting with youth inspired creativity in her students.

“He made them feel like they could write and draw comics because his passion for the arts was so contagious,” she said. “He highlighted the process of editing your work. Editing and revising is a difficult skill for learners at this age and he made it ok to rewrite a whole book, pictures, and all.”

Jorgensen also incorporated some of the inspiration of Green’s visit into her lessons for her students.

“I added some autographed copies of the "InvestiGators" series to my collection which they are welcome to put into their book boxes and use with care,” she said. “I also used his passion for editing and revising while finishing up publishing our recent books. Many learners were inspired to push through and really make it their best work.”

Caswell said he is currently working on a new project and could not contain his excitement about the way meeting his favorite author has inspired him.

“At school me and my friends are working on a project in art class and are making a comic called, “Gary and Grape,” he said. “I think we can make a really good comic strip out of this. We are even going to sell it just like the author did when he was a kid.” <

New librarian brings love of books and artistic talent to JSMS

Mari Dieumegard with the two
books she has illustrated

By Briana Bizier

Not many librarians can showcase their own work in their library’s collection. Yet this is true for Jordan Small Middle School’s new librarian, Mari Dieumegard, who has also illustrated two children’s books.

“I’ve always loved books,” Mari Dieumegard, with a smile. “I love reading young adult books, and I love making children’s books. This job is really the best of both worlds.”

Originally from Alaska, Dieumegard has fond memories of visiting her grandparent’s camp in Monmouth, Maine over the summers. She attended Lewis and Clark College, located in the other Portland, before moving to Maine to attend the Maine College of Art. After graduating with her BFA, Dieumegard began teaching in an independent school in Portland.

“My mom was a teacher,” Dieumegard stated, “so working with kids came naturally.”

While teaching, Dieumegard was also developing her career as an independent artist and illustrator. In a process familiar to many who work in the arts, she sent out innumerable query letters and samples of her illustrations to publishers and agents. She also moved away from the independent school in Portland and began working as a substitute teacher in the RSU14 system of Windham and Raymond.

When a position opened up in the Raymond Elementary School library, Dieumegard applied and was hired. Then, three years after sending out her many query letters, Mari was contacted by Islandport Press of Yarmouth. Would she be interested, they wondered, in providing the illustrations for a new children’s book written by Jean Flahive? Dieumegard accepted their offer, and her first publication, “The Old Mainer and the Sea”, was released in October of 2017.

“We had a book birthday party at the elementary school,” Dieumegard recalled. “It was really fun.”

My personal Raymond Elementary School insider, Sage Bizier, still remembers this book birthday party, so I can verify that it was indeed very fun. Dieumegard’s collaboration with the author Jean Flahive resulted in a second children’s book, “The Canoe Maker”, which was released earlier this year. Naturally, both books are available at the Jordan-Small Middle School library and the Raymond Elementary School library. You can also find signed copies of both books at Mari’s website: http://maridieumegardart.com.

Although her illustrations focus on children’s books, Dieumegard’s love of young adult literature shines through her thoughtful book recommendations. She gave me a tour of the library while Lisa Schadler, the previous librarian at Jordan-Small Middle School, re-organized the book selection by genre to make it easier for young readers to find the books that appeal to them.
offering several recommendations for the voracious nine-year-old reader at my house.

“I personally like fantasy and realistic fiction,” she said, “but I am trying to push my boundaries and read more horror and spooky stories so I can help the kids find what they want.”

Dieumegard also brings her considerable artistic talents to her position as a librarian. As the advisor to the Jordan Small library club, the LitWits, Dieumegard is currently sponsoring a logo design contest for the middle school students. She plans to teach students in the library club how to use Google Draw to create their own logo for the library. In a process that is a bit similar to Dieumegard’s own experiences submitting her illustrations to publishers, the students’ designs will then be posted online, and the school will vote to choose the winner.

“This library is really a community space,” Dieumegard said. “Teachers will send their classes down here to work on projects, or students will come down with a library pass.” She smiled as a few young library lovers poked their heads into the sunny, open room.

“It’s a job that doesn’t feel like a job.”