Karen Whitmore is sure that Cascade Middle School has budding writers.
To give these youthful scribes an outlet, she started the school’s after school creative writing club.
“I didn’t really have that when I was young and needing it,” said the Auburn School District special education paraeducator.
It wasn’t something she had thought of until the principal asked one of Whitmore’s co-workers about starting a book group. Her co-worker wasn’t interested but Whitmore thought she could expand on the idea.
As a writer, she thought it would be fun to start an after-school club that gives students the opportunity for creative writing, something they don’t have much time for in class.
“Creative writing especially seems to be kind of low on the list,” she said.
It’s something she wishes had been available when she was in school and so she’s crafted the program into what she would have liked as a student. Plus, she’s been in writing groups for the past 10 years.
One of the most important elements was having the weekly meeting in the library, a highly coveted spot.
“I didn’t want it to be in a classroom,” she said. “I wanted them to understand it’s not a class. There’s no grade.”
During the club meeting, Whitmore gives them a writing assignment that they work on for 10 or 15 minutes and then have the opportunity to read out loud to the rest of the students. Part of the process is teaching the students how to provide constructive criticism of each other’s work.
“I want to show them that there are other things besides just writing,” she said.
She’s borrowing some ideas from November’s National Novel Writing Month, a 30-day period of time when writers make personal pledges to write 50,000 words, which is approximately 175 pages. Though she doesn’t anticipate anything to that extent, at the end of the school year, she would like to present each club member with a bound copy of the work they have completed over the past nine months.
“They are really enthusiastic about writing,” she said.
