Some teens who may have thought of reading as a chore have been given reason to think again -- using their own creativity as a follow to finishing "The Diary of Anne Frank."

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette photos At the Propel School in Homestead, fifth-graders Kelsey Geyer, left, and Sarah Hrubitz show their 3-D model of the secret annex where Anne Frank and other families were hiding. Click photo for larger image.

More than 200 students from Allegheny and Washington counties, Ohio and West Virginia are being given the opportunity to interpret the book through their personal art and reflections, then experience a special performance of the play at the North Side's New Hazlett Theater on May 3.

A year ago, the Tickets for Kids Foundation and Prime Stage Theatre launched the "Celebration of Reading" project, a program that helps to address the lack of literacy programs for teens.

Vera Marelli, program director of Tickets for Kids, said she and Wayne Brinda, founder and director of Prime Stage, were chatting one day about how to get more kids involved in theater, and reading became part of the discussion.

"We noticed there were a lot of teens falling through the cracks when it came to literacy," said Marelli. "There's a lot of literacy programs for kids and adults, but not many programs for teens."

The Comcast Literacy Fund and Junior Achievement are among others in our area who sponsor teen literacy programs. The Celebration of Reading joined them last year, when about 100 students participated and produced a wall-sized mural, tiny shoe-box villages, poems and artwork after reading "The Giver" by Newbery Medal-winning author Lois Lowry.

This year, students are reading the "Diary of Anne Frank," a heartbreaking story about life in hiding and the Nazi death camps of World War II.

Propel School fifth-grader Imani Wilson reads "The Diary of Anne Frank." Click photo for larger image.

After completing the reading, Marelli said, students work with project mentors, form teams and come up with ideas for art projects, which will be on display at the New Hazlett.

Susan Tell, a resource teacher in the gifted program at Propel Charter School, Homestead, said some of the students weren't familiar with the Holocaust until they started reading the "Diary of Anne Frank."

"Some of them didn't even know about Hitler and the concentration camps," said Tell. "Now they are really into [learning about] it."

Tell said each of her students is creating something different to reflect his or her feelings about Frank's experience. For instance, "one student is creating a timeline using poetry and hand-drawn photos, and another is creating a model of a concentration camp," she said.

Marelli said they never imagined the students would be as involved and accepting of the project.

"We were blown away last year with the art projects, and the same thing is happening this year," she said.