Story by student reporter Cassandra Buckman
The new creative writing class within the Thomas County Central High School English department provides students with the ability to express their passion for words to a new extent.
“The students are involved in various writing activities, both creative and journalistic,” teacher Stacey Mitchell said. “They write articles about school activities for the newspaper. Students also write short stories and reflection essays. Students will also participate in writing contests for different types of writing.”
With the establishment of the class, students have more freedom to write to their preference rather than what one would write in a standard English classroom.
“I hope to give the students an outlet for creative expression,” Mitchell said. “With the high demands of the curriculum, it is difficult to give them these opportunities in a standard English course.”
Students regularly write articles that are featured on the school’s website and submitted to the local newspaper for possible publication on the Jacket Tracker page. The Jacket Tracker, or JT, was established a few years ago to promote positive news within the county schools, per adviser Teresa Williams. Such news includes highlighting important school events and students’ academic or extracurricular achievements.
“I hope these young wordsmiths gain an appreciation for writing outside the classroom, as well as respect for journalists and other writers who make their living by crafting the written word,” Williams explained. “Showcasing our school and its students’ positive accomplishments is one way to do that.”
Student writers experience the real world in regards to deadlines. They are given a timeline for when their newspaper articles are due, as well as finishing dates for their creative writing journals. They also have certain criteria to meet for each assignment.
"I've learned a lot through writing my newspaper articles, such as AP style writing and other communication skills learned when I gather information for my articles," Ashlan Layton said.
Also, students can share their personal works with peers within the class in order to gain constructive criticism and advice.
“I have enjoyed being able to have a class period to just write,” Megan Butler said. “It allows me to improve my writing skills and share my work with others.”
Not only has the class offered other opinions toward a student’s work, but also it has provided students experience for future writing endeavors.
“By taking this class, I hope to gain more experience for my future writing career,” Taylor Smith said. “I also would love to learn to express myself through writing.”
Recently, the writing class has been featured by Thomasville Magazine. Students wrote submissions related to the Christmas holidays. Three were chosen to be published in the magazine’s winter issue; others will be posted on the magazine’s website.
“Seeing my work in a magazine brought me such pride and it made me realize how much my work means to the community,” Morgan Warr said.