Whiz Kid: Selena Martinez of Bell Shoals Baptist Academy Plays a Key Role in Authors' Museum

Selena Martinez is a whiz at writing, so much so that she relishes both the time she gets to team with her former teacher and the future she sees for herself as a writer for life.

“I know I would be truly happy if I could influence someone’s life through writing,
 said Martiez, 13, a seventh-grader at Bell Shoals Baptist Academy. “I’d really like to be a writer or a reporter because I believe that words can really change a person’s life.”

It was “back in the fourth grade,” Martinez said, that teacher Tammy Perkins “showed me that writing can make a difference." 

Now, Martinez is assisting Perkins in organizing and hosting the Author's Museum at Bell Shoals Baptist Academy on March 4, where students will "bring their writing to life through drama, poetry, music, art and storytelling." The museum is open to parents and the general public.

"We're having a museum because we want to get a better writing program at the school," Martinez said. "We wants laptops and smart boards and to really help the students get into writing. We want to open a new window to writing and show kids that writing is not just something you have to do for the SAT."

What makes Martinez, tick?

“Music and friendships, that’s really what makes me, me,” she said. “I like music that can make you feel something, make you want to get up and dance. And I like friendships, because friends can stand by you and bring you a lot of fun.”

Her favorite form of writing is descriptive, "writing novels and such," she said.

One topic she'd like to cover is the school scene, for her school-aged peers, and all that entails, including popularity and cliques, physical and mental changes "and pretty much just trying to discover and prove who you are," Martinez said.

"Some of the traumas you might face and how to get through them, with a humorous twist," Martinez added. "You can get through the traumas and school isn't half bad."

As for Martinez, she pretty much has a good idea of who she is. As she put it: "I guess I'm a seventh-grade girl at Bell Shoals Baptist Academy writing for the Lord and doing what she can for her teachers."