Here at NewsDepth, we are always very impressed with the wide range of talented students that we get to meet. Recently, we met an entire team of students at the Birchwood School of Hawken, in Cleveland, who are using their skills and talents and creativity to write a new story. Literally. Of course I’m talking about the Power of the Pen program.
Power of the Pen is an Ohio-wide interscholastic writing program for seventh- and eighth-grade students. Students who participate are able to learn and use writing skills that help them to develop their own creative voice. Joshua told us that the group meets every Wednesday afterschool. During these meetings, the students practice, you guessed it, writing creatively. Caroline added that they’re given prompts that really challenge them to think and that her, and her teammates have to write a story about the prompt. The prompts can sometimes describe a scenario, a character’s dilemma, or challenge the student to explore an emotion, Saanvi explained to us. Manya said that she really enjoyed writing about different genres and going through the creative process. Ayat told us that Power of the Pen really helped her grow and truly know herself as a writer. She told us that this has been a wonderful experience.
Recently the team competed in the Regional competition at Kent State University. We’re excited to share that they won the Regional Sweepstakes Award for the third year in a row, the eighth grade team finished in first place, and the seventh grade team placed fourth. Next up for the team is the State Tournament at Ashland University. We’re excited to hear how they do.
We, at NewsDepth, really admire all of the work that these students put into their writing. Writing is an important part of what we do every single day to make this show. The students even taught us a few things about writing. For example, Stephan told us that just because a piece of writing is complex, it doesn’t always mean it’s good. There are times when simple is best. Haadeya suggested that when you are writing, time management is very important. She told us that it’s never a bad idea to plan your writing and to use your time wisely. Great advice!
This week’s A+ Award goes to the Power of the Pen program at the Birchwood School of Hawken for thinking creatively and expressing themselves in writing.
Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.