Class

From Memoir to Myth (for Ages 12 to 14)

This full-day summer writing experience invites young writers to spend four creative days building skills, confidence, and imagination at the Loft. Mornings focus on practical writing tools students can use in school, afternoons open up space for creativity and collaboration, and a midday lunch break offers time to recharge with fun enrichment activities. Together, the day balances structure and play—helping writers strengthen their voices, try new ideas, and discover the power of words in a supportive community.

SESSION 1: Expository Essay Writing (for ages 12 to 14) with Kat Shepherd

Writing in school can feel like an joyless, impossible chore: What are you supposed to write about? How are you supposed to write it? What does your teacher really want? Fear not, friends! This class offers practical, concrete steps to help you painlessly write anything from a basic paragraph to a multi-page essay.

Using tips and tricks from the experts, we’ll learn to crack the code of essay writing and build a toolbox of strategies that can manage even the most intimidating writing assignments. We’ll pull from a variety of games and high-interest topics to explore thesis, structure, and audience, giving participants the opportunity to complete expository writing about subjects that excite them. Does this mean this class might write persuasive essays about farts? Very likely!

The goal of the class is to practice expository writing in a fun and engaging way that gets students ready to head back to school as confident writers with a host of new strategies at their fingertips.

LUNCH AND ENRICHMENT:
We'll break for lunch with more activities that will inspire us to express ourselves while having fun! We may explore Gold Medal Park to seek creativity outside the classroom! Please bring a packed lunch.

SESSION 2: Solarpunk! Building Sustainable Worlds through Science Fiction (for ages 12 to 14) with Amy Sailer

In this workshop, students will learn about Solarpunk, a utopian genre that imagines the ecological, aesthetic, and social possibilities of a world transformed by renewable energy.

We will discuss examples of Solarpunk stories from diverse writers and artists, including Becky Chambers and Hayao Miyazaki, and then students will collaborate to research technological innovations and aesthetic inspiration for their own Solarpunk worlds. Students will then have time to begin their own short stories that take place in the collaborative world.

Along the way, we will experiment with worldbuilding techniques, including social relationships, setting, and figurative language. Taking a page out of the utopian stories we discuss, the class will endeavor to use creative writing to build stronger communities in and out of the classroom.

Aspiring writers, grab your notebooks and pens, and let’s write at the Loft!