Writing a story is hard, Mineola School Superintendent Michael Nagler said. Getting up in front of a crowd and reading that story, he added, is even harder.

That is exactly what eight Mineola students did at last Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, as the board honored the students from Hampton Street School, Meadow Drive School and Jackson Avenue School for narrative writing.

The stories all shared a theme, “stories we tell,” said K-4 curriculum coordinator Jodi DeSantis-Helming.

The students told personal stories about varying experiences, including learning to ride a bike, traveling with their families and celebrating their birthdays.

Although the stories become longer and more intricate with the older grade levels, DeSantis-Helming said, lessons of the basic principles of story telling, such as using detail and telling in sequence, begin as early as kindergarten.

A few students read in both Spanish and English.

From Hampton Street School the board honored Ewelina Morelli, a first-grader, Eduardo Pepen Taveras, a kindergartener, and Logan Vescovi, a second-grader. From Meadow Drive School the board honored Cassidy Couture, a kindergartener, Katelynn Hung, a first-grader, and Andrew Murray IV, a second-grader. From Jackson Avenue School the board honored Jasmine Ferreira, a third-grader, and Ryan Manu, a fourth-grader.

The young authors were not alone in receiving praise from the board.

Several budding scientists were recognized for their work, as well.

The board honored Rhett Pace, a kindergartner at Meadow Drive, whose “Snowy Blaster” invention won an international Twitter contest by the London-based Kids Invent Stuff YouTube page, and received media attention.

The board also recognized two brothers who go to Meadow Drive, James Bertrand, a fifth-grader, and Andrew Bertrand, a second-grader, who invented “The Illuminator,” a battery-operated jacket that has lights for the dark.

The board also honored Joesph Mueller, a senior, for becoming an Eagle Scout.