Staff writer
The students in Janet Killough’s creative writing class at Marion High School have all experimented with writing.
Tim Costello wrote a comical fake test that currently resides on the “wall of fame” outside of the classroom.
“Maddening
Academic
Participation
Test
F(x)
a) armadillos
b) bats
c) crocodiles
I don’t know … B, I guess.”
Each of the students developed a unique style over the semester. Galen Funk wrote stories about aliens and zombies. Tim wrote for laughs.
“Some people write ‘lovey-dovey’ stuff,” Emily Meador said. “Some people write very sad dramatic stuff.”
Sarah Guetersloh was more poetic with “Time to Waste.” She experimented with punctuation, font, color, and sentence structure.
“He grips my hand and leads me to electronics. Typical Male. He then drags me to the TVs. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”
The students wrote in different formats — short story, poem, and dialogue — to diversify their writing. Madison Chamberland had two strikingly different pieces on the wall. One of them was a dialogue written with movie titles called “Love Like the Movies.”
“It will be like ‘A Walk To Remember,’ like ‘Titanic’ at ‘Twilight,’ when ‘We Save The Last Dance’ and make ‘The Pact’ with ‘Music and Lyrics.’ After ‘50 First Dates’ we will be ‘Gone With the Wind.”’
The other was a short, more traditional narrative called, “Asylum Diary Entry #227.”
“’What do you see,’ he asked.
He wasn’t much of a man. I’d guess a little over five foot five. Argille vest, crisp white shirt, and teary eyes stared at me while I fumbled with the hem of my orange top.
‘Pain,’ I replied.”
During the semester, students wrote in a free writing period every Friday and then recited their work in class.
“We joke with Olivia (Kinkaid),” Emily said. “When she reads, she really gets into it.
“The way you read it can enhance how it sounds,” Tim said.
The students will pepper their writing with personal experiences. Admission to the class comes with a confidentiality agreement: students are not to repeat what they hear in class. This also allows shy students to open up in a safe environment.
“It really helps you interact with others if you’re shy,” Emily said.
After students read their pieces aloud, they then had 25 minutes to revise their stories. Sometimes, a story is changed drastically.
“Taking on a life of its own,” Tim said.
The students then vote on which pieces are the best and those works are displayed on the wall.
Sarah has taken the class for three years and she contends that it has made her a better writer and an all around better student.
“Description, showing more than just telling, better word choice,” she said. “This class will help you with all of your English classes in high school. It helps you with every other class. It helps your confidence, reading personal things in front of people.”
At the beginning of the semester, Killough handed out blank books to every member of the class to fill with either a 27-page story or collections of their writing. The students also have to illustrate the book with drawings, pictures, stickers or graphics. On Monday, the students turned in their book.
The students also prepared a gift of writing for every student in the class. The gifts could be simple but all of them were creative. One example was balloons that read, “I hope this inflates your love of writing.” Madison received a “writer’s block,” which was a white block with the words writer’s block written on it.
The gifts could also be more specific. Danae Edwards received bubble solution because she wrote a story about bubbles.
“I’m glad I wrote a story about bubbles,” Danae said.
“I wrote about texting,” Emily responded. “Can I get a new cell phone?”
During the semester, students developed a strong bond with one another.
“They’ve developed a sense of family almost,” Killough said. “They all love to write so much.”