Student Spotlight - Nora Lynch

Conshohocken Elementary School third-grader Nora Lynch is one of 10 grand-prize winners in the 2024 Book Song Challenge, resulting in a $1,000 award for the school to use for library books, as well as a gift card for herself.

The Book Song Challenge is sponsored by Hallee Adelman, a local author who has donated numerous books from her “Way Past” series to Conshohocken Elementary. Students were invited through the Book Song Challenge to write and perform a song about their favorite book and share why they loved it. Students’ songs were posted on Instagram with hashtags for the contest, and winners were chosen from many entries. 

Nora sang her song about “Holes,” a book by Louis Sachar and illustrated by Vladimir Radunksy and Bagram Ibatoulline. She said she selected the book because of its positive theme.

“I thought it was a good book about how you can do anything,” she said. “Despite your past, you can persevere.”

It took her at least three days to write, edit, and practice her song about “Holes” while using a keyboard passed down to her by her mother.

“My favorite part about writing and recording was, in writing I got to express my feelings about ‘Holes,’ and in recording it, was when I made my own beat,” she said.

The most challenging part was capturing her performance on video, while making sure that she used the right words and timed everything correctly. Her hard work paid off, as contest evaluators noted that Nora’s song was selected for its “incredibly inspirational lyrics, expertly created music track, and great singing.”

Finding out she was one of 10 grand-prize winners was pretty exciting for the Conshohocken student.

“I felt like I was exploding with joy. I couldn’t stop smiling,” she said. “I felt super proud of myself, like I could do anything.”

You can watch her performing her book song by clicking here.