JBER teen wins AF Read Week essay contest

  • Published
  • By Air Force Staff Sgt. William Banton
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  "I am so enthralled in the story, that when I next look up, my clock reads 3:11. I've been reading so much that I have forgotten to eat lunch," wrote Mackenzie Reitz in her 2014 Teen Read Week award winning essay.

"I quickly run upstairs, grab an apple and a glass of water, and run back to my room. I pick right back up where I left off. The sewers of London are cold and wet as I sit on my comfy, warm bed."

The 17-year-old Eagle River High School senior with a passion for dance and musical theater described her favorite book Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, in her essay about her favorite read.

The Teen Read Week contest was designed to increase awareness of the resources libraries offer and to promote the importance of leisure reading.

The contest, administered at all Air Force libraries, was judged by Air Force Personnel Center.

It asked contestants from the ages of 12 to 18 to submit essays on the subject titled "My Favorite Read."

The double-spaced essays had to be between 500 and 1000 words and were evaluated on format, creativity, grammar and organization.
"I think my friends would probably describe dance as my thing. However, I am friends with all the bookworms and we are always reading," Reitz said. "I have a friend who always has her Kindle by her side. I prefer hard copy books because they smell better, so I'll always be reading those."

Whether preforming in shows or preparing to graduate high school, Reitz describes herself as having a continuous desire for her peers' reading lists and wanting to continue a dialog about those books.

"My dad's a pastor and my mom's an English teacher, so reading kind of came naturally, but when I was in the second grade I decided I hated reading and didn't want to touch books," said Reitz, daughter of Air Force Maj. Roland Reitz, a chaplain with the 673d Air Base Wing.
"I grew out of that phase and I have pretty much been reading constantly ever since.

"Last year, I took an advanced placement [writing] course where you're writing towards the end of the year once a week or twice a week. I kind of have a knack for creative writing."

Though she enjoys reading and writing, reading plays isn't one of her favorite hobbies.

"I tolerate scripts," Reitz said.  "I would rather perform them than read them. Right now, I prefer to read historical fiction or fairytales with a twist...stories that people have heard before, but with something different about them."

In many ways Reitz's passion for reading and gratitude to the Air Force for the opportunity to enter the competition is best summed up in the last paragraph of her essay:

"As I reach the last chapter, I slow down to savor the story's ending," Reitz wrote. "As I get caught up in the ending, I suddenly reach the last page. My heart leaps as I reach the last sentence.

I reread the last page, like I always do and smile as I know the conclusion of the mischievous tale of Dodger. The boy, who saved a maiden in peril, met Charles Dickens, defeated Sweeney Todd and became employed by the Queen of England.

I run to the computer to discover what else Terry Pratchett has written only to find the next four books I check out from my favorite place on earth: my local library."