D C Creative Writing Workshop Inc

"Writing Club is a true, life-changing experience. It helped me to express feelings so powerful that they scare even me sometimes. It’s made me stronger in another way, too. I am now able to speak out loud and say what I’m thinking without any fear." ~ Kiana Murphy, DCCWW alum, currently attending the University of Wisconsin

"I didn’t join the program until 7th grade when my best friend Marche’ told me that there was a program that gave out free snacks and all you had to do was write poems... I was with this program all the way up to 12th grade and I still appreciate it as much as I did then. I didn’t expect to keep coming back year after year but the people there were so nice and I got to be close to Ms. Nancy in a way, it was unusual for me to even consider an adult as a friend but she was so giving and full of mostly useful information... I’d say writing club helped shape most of my life and I will forever be grateful for everything that they’ve done for me. I would love to share every single one of my stories but then again they were special to me and most of them I like to keep close to myself." ~ Nichell Kee, DCCWW alum, currently attending Notre Dame College

The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop runs an after-school writing club that is free and open to students from all over the DC area.

We also offer in-class instruction, where our Writers-in-Residence collaborate with public school teachers to offer poetry workshops during the school day.

Since 2000, DCCWW has served over 5,000 young people ages 5-21 with in-class instruction and after-school programs. Based at Charles Hart Middle School in the Congress Heights neighborhood of southeast DC, the program focuses on students from Hart, Simon Elementary School, and Ballou Senior High School, but works with students from other public and charter schools throughout the region.

Each year in Writing Club, our students:

• hone their creative skills with daily poetry exercises.
• find their voices and practice performing their work in our supportive environment
• write, produce and star in an original feature length movie, based on a classic play (last spring we turned "Pygmalion" into "The Notorious P.Y.G.")
• edit three issues of our award-winning literary magazine "hArtworks"
• attend at least six professional productions at DC theaters
• learn what a "zeugma" is
• make friends, play games, read books, have FUN!

 

Why is the Writing Workshop important?

• Arts education is dwindling. Our program currently represents the only after-school arts opportunity for Hart students. The school does not have an art teacher. More and more focus is being placed on high-stakes testing at the expense of creative programs.
• Arts education is essential. Our literary arts curriculum develops the skills necessary to thrive in a technological world - creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, and communication and collaboration. These skills are all the more vital for at-risk students such as ours.
• Creative writing improves behavior and academic performance. Over ten years we have seen that our students miss less school, get in trouble less often, and work harder in class. Our program gives kids an outlet for negative emotions and the motivation to succeed.
• We create a safe, nurturing, enthusiastic community. In an underserved community with high levels of poverty and violence, the Writing Club provides an alternative to the streets. Our program is completely free and requires no registration. We welcome all students who wish to attend.

 

 

So join us! Your contribution will help to 

• publish literary journals, give readings, expand our library, and make movies. 
• cultivate a positive community for the kids who most need it
• introduce students to the larger world of the arts
• affirm the power and importance of creativity in education.

#give2max