Our participants this year rocked! We had fourteen young writers, grades six through twelve, and they seemed to bond almost immediately. Before the workshop even began, they were standing in a circle--in true teenage fashion--and laughing about their various school experiences. The facilitators looked over from our mini discussion in the corner and just went, "Wow!"
The writing was just as awesome as the participants. We're hoping all the participants will submit their writing to be considered for publication in Ink-Filled Page. We'll have our work cut out for us in choosing the top four, though!
At the end of the workshop, the participants went home with goodie bags worth over $100 each, thanks to donations from Portland's amazingly supportive publishing community. This year's sponsors included: Amber Lotus, Dark Horse Comics, Ink & Paper Group, Oni Press, Ooligan Press, Pastrycat, St. Johns Bookstore, and the Writers' Dojo. Teen Ink was also a great supporter and donated a few issues for each teen to take home.
I'd also like to send out a huge thank you to our facilitators Jan Underwood, Kristin Thiel, and Jeff Selin for their generosity in donating their time to make this event happen.
Stay tuned for more workshops in the future. We're considering expanding Ink Splash to occur more often, perhaps quarterly or even weekly during a semester or summer program. What would work best for you? We want to hear it! Please take a moment to complete the poll in the sidebar.
Thanks again to all our participants, sponsors, and facilitators!
I think that reading really is a tool that should be utilized to our very best ability. I mean it does nothing but enhance our reading skills. But then again, most people think that by reading you are gaining knowledge, which they are correct! But what kind of knowledge are they gaining? Is it True? Is it False? Now a days, people conceive the notion of believing everything that is on paper or screen simply because it is "written"
ReplyDeleteIf we all take a look outside the box, we can see that what we read is just a compiled amount of researched data, but then again, it does not necessarily mean it is all true most of the time. Especially if children read the mass amounts of data that is available on the internet now a days, it could be beneficial on the reading part of it, but the knowledge should be double checked on the content itself sometimes. But then again, it is a choice to believe what they read or not, and that is part of the maturing process. Whether what they read is true or not, it is still something that can be expanded into ones own pre-conceived imagination.