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Independence, MO —
Just after Hannah Eastin completed the fourth grade at Center Place Restoration School in Independence, she was bored and looking for something to do. So the elementary student sat down and started writing a book.
The book was about a little white poodle named Evana who was having a birthday party. Like many hobbies and activities, the book was put aside for several years until Eastin, now 17, decided to pull it out to raise money for an important cause.
“The idea just popped into my head that I should try to write a book.” she said. “My greatest love was animals, especially dogs, and so I began to write. I created the Evana character because I thought little poodle dogs were so cute.”
Eastin has been selling “Evana’s Adventures” for the past two months, raising money for the Reach Out and Read Kansas City Program. She is the current Miss Branson’s Outstanding Teen in the Miss Missouri Pageant system and is using the book to raise money for her platform.
Reach Out and Read Kansas City is a medically based early literacy program that prepares young children for success in school by encouraging families to read together. The program was started in 1989 by pediatricians and early childhood educators to make literacy a part of pediatric care. Eastin is a volunteer for the program.
“I came up with the idea to pull out some of my early day Evana stories, expand them, locate an artist to illustrate them and have them published,” she said about the decision to publish “Evana’s Adventures.” “It is such a joy to see how kids have loved the book. It was a tremendous joy to hand Reach Out and Read their first check. They tell me no one has ever written, published and donated the proceeds of the sales to them before.”
Eastin has loved singing and performing on stage since she was little. After playing the role of Annie in a school play, she traveled to New York and auditioned for the same role for the Broadway production. She came in first runner-up out of 400 girls. She has also participated in productions with the City Theatre of Independence and the Kansas City Christian Youth Theater.
But after reaching a certain height, she could no longer play children’s roles. However, she was still too young to play adult roles, so the Eastern Jackson County teen had to look for another avenue. That turned out to be the Miss Teen Pageant.
Just after Hannah Eastin completed the fourth grade at Center Place Restoration School in Independence, she was bored and looking for something to do. So the elementary student sat down and started writing a book.
The book was about a little white poodle named Evana who was having a birthday party. Like many hobbies and activities, the book was put aside for several years until Eastin, now 17, decided to pull it out to raise money for an important cause.
“The idea just popped into my head that I should try to write a book.” she said. “My greatest love was animals, especially dogs, and so I began to write. I created the Evana character because I thought little poodle dogs were so cute.”
Eastin has been selling “Evana’s Adventures” for the past two months, raising money for the Reach Out and Read Kansas City Program. She is the current Miss Branson’s Outstanding Teen in the Miss Missouri Pageant system and is using the book to raise money for her platform.
Reach Out and Read Kansas City is a medically based early literacy program that prepares young children for success in school by encouraging families to read together. The program was started in 1989 by pediatricians and early childhood educators to make literacy a part of pediatric care. Eastin is a volunteer for the program.
“I came up with the idea to pull out some of my early day Evana stories, expand them, locate an artist to illustrate them and have them published,” she said about the decision to publish “Evana’s Adventures.” “It is such a joy to see how kids have loved the book. It was a tremendous joy to hand Reach Out and Read their first check. They tell me no one has ever written, published and donated the proceeds of the sales to them before.”
Eastin has loved singing and performing on stage since she was little. After playing the role of Annie in a school play, she traveled to New York and auditioned for the same role for the Broadway production. She came in first runner-up out of 400 girls. She has also participated in productions with the City Theatre of Independence and the Kansas City Christian Youth Theater.
But after reaching a certain height, she could no longer play children’s roles. However, she was still too young to play adult roles, so the Eastern Jackson County teen had to look for another avenue. That turned out to be the Miss Teen Pageant.
“I have learned in my pageant training how to better present myself to people, improve in public speaking, think on my feet, become a diligent follower of the news broadcasts, cultivate interview skills, improve singing and dancing skills, become a make-up artist, do my own hair, create an impeccable wardrobe, become an outstanding community fundraiser and serve others through community volunteering,” she said. “It has helped me mature in ways I never would have dreamed.”
Eastin said the thing she has enjoyed the most is the many hours of being interviewed – training, she said, she will use for the rest of her life.
“I expect a job interview in the future will now seem like piece of cake,” said Eastin, who competed in Branson because there was no local pageant. “I have worked hard to prepare for pageants. … I hope to win not only the state title but also win a national title.”
Eastin, who is currently home-schooled and is also taking classes at MCC-Longview and MCC-Blue River, is busy writing her next book. Unlike, “Evana’s Adventures,” which is geared toward young children, she is working on a chapter book for children ages 9 to 12 about a mouse and her adventures. After requests for a second Evana book, she also plans to work on more stories about the poodle.
“My future goals include graduating from high school (in May 2013), continuing college and completing my degree in communications at UMKC,” she said. “Then I would like to enter law school to specialize in serving children.”
For more information about the reach Out and Read Kansas City program, visit www.reachoutandreadkc.org. For information about “Evana’s Adventures” or to order the book, contact Eastin at evanasadventures@gmail.com. The book is $6 plus shipping and handling. All proceeds go to reach Out and Read Kansas City.
