Summer 2003 Youth Programs

Creative Writing Day Camps & Workshops for Children & Teens

For details about SummerWrite 2003, including registration fees, see the SummerWrite 2003 General Information Page.

Week 2: July 7–11 

WWAB-AM: Our Own Radio Show
First of Two Weeks

• JY3-D2B2
• Ages: 8–12
• Instructor: Maria Gillard [ bio ]
• Two weeks: July 7–11 & July 14–18
  Mornings, 9 a.m.–Noon
• $195 General Public; 10% discount for W&B Members

Live radio was what people listened to for entertainment before television. CREATING one is a BLAST!

It involves developing characters, dialogue and stories with sound effects. It's composing jingles for advertising fun things. It's music, poetry and journalism all in one! This is a great opportunity for you to develop a variety of skills in writing, public speaking and acting, and a fun way to use your imagination!

Anyone who plays a musical instrument or loves to sing and is interested in writing, acting and comedy is encouraged to attend. On the last day, at 11 a.m., we will perform and tape our show before a live audience.

Nature Speaks
First of Two Weeks

• JY3-M2C2
• Ages: 8–12
• Instructor: Annette Ramos [ bio ]
• Two weeks: July 7–11 & July 14–18
  Afternoons, 1–4 p.m.
• $195 General Public; 10% discount for W&B Members
• Note: Additional supply & admissions fee: $10

Join us for this two-week intensive creative writing and theatrical experience.

We kick-off the program with a visit to the Rochester Zoo where we will observe and develop animal characters. Using the written word, movement, drama and art, we will write from these animal voices to create a living and breathing Animal Ensemble.

Our second week begins with a visit to a local park to be inspired by nature's creative process. Using many creative writing exercises, theatre games and art, we will weave a performance piece to present to our family and friends on the last day, at 3 p.m.

Come join us, develop your writing skills, be part of this creative team, have fun and let your imagination discover the inter-connectedness of all living things.

Writing Your Life

• JY3-N4A2
• Ages: 12–14
• Instructor: Camy Sorbello [ bio ]
• Mornings, 9 a.m.–Noon

By now, you've seen a lot of what life has to offer—the good, the bad, the exciting, the boring.

Why not write about it before it flies out of your head and is gone forever? Write about all of your fun and funny friends, your favorite summer place, or your least favorite restaurant (and the time you found a gruesome insect in the twice-baked potatoes). Your experiences can become essays, memoirs, or even the basis for fiction. Write about your worst vacation, favorite relative, scariest moment, proudest achievement, earliest memory.

Tell your own story, of your life—the one story that’s yours and yours alone. Join us for a week of creative mornings. We’ll prevent your original ideas from slipping into the outer atmosphere by collecting them in a take-home anthology.

The Write Stuff

• JY3-M4B2
• Ages: 12–14
• Instructor: Donna Marbach [ bio ]
• Afternoons, 1–4 p.m.

Why do we like to write? What makes a good story? Where do ideas come from? How can we express our feelings in the best way? When is a poem really a poem? Can non-fiction be creative?

This class is a kind of training camp for young writers who want to reach the stars. In it, we will read, play writing games, experiment, and mostly have fun. Meeting other young writers and sharing ideas, you will help each other grow creatively. Together we will uncover secrets and techniques used by “professionals.” And, we will seek out new places to publish your best pieces. Best of all, we will explore new worlds—outside and within—by writing and writing and writing.

Writing for College
First of Three Weeks

• JY3-M6A2
• High School: Summer after Grades 10, 11 or 12
• Instructors: Alec Sutherland [ bio ], Kathleen Wakefield [ bio ] & Ken Wilson [ bio ]
• Three weeks: July 7–11, July14–18, & July 21–25
  Mornings, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
• $475 General Public; 10% discount for W&B Members

You are a fairly good writer—you have good ideas and you know how to get most of them down on paper…but still you wonder: What is it really like to write at a college level? Are you ready?

In this program which combines the intellectual stimulation of a college class with the fun of a summer social outing with like-minded teens, you will learn writing skills through intriguing readings and creative assignments devised by some of Rochester’s most esteemed writing teachers.

Go through the whole writing process, from conception to proofreading on two essays. Learn more about the structural elements of literature by writing a couple of short literary pieces of your own. You will explore the ins and outs of a good research library. And, to spice things up, you will get out into the summer joy of the Neighborhood of the Arts to explore inspiring writing environments such as cafés and gardens.

By the end, our goal is that you should be able to say yes to the following important questions:

• Can you take notes from lectures and texts that will help you when it is time to write?
• Can you brainstorm ideas to help make your work original and catchy?
• Can you identify problems or gaps in your writing which you need to fix for readers?
• Can you muster evidence from various sources to back your interpretation or theory?
• Do you know the uses and forms of quotation and citation well enough to document your ideas clearly, follow standard formats, avoid a choppy text, and avoid plagiarism?
• Can you revise and edit your work to be intellectually complex, yet clear and concise?
• Are you confident of your ability to rise to the challenge of college writing?

The course is fun yet rigorous. We try to reproduce a college-level pace. Be prepared to manage your time wisely to complete assignments.

All colleges require writing. Get ahead of the curve!

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