Pine-Richland Middle School and High School GATE teachers sponsored a middle school Creative Writing Workshop for area schools in the Northern Area Gifted Consortium (NAGC) with 11 schools in attendance on February 16.

The workshop featured five creative writing stations run by PRHS students.This year’s theme was “Lights, Camera, Action!” 

More than 100 middle school students in grades 6-8 from Allegheny Valley, Avonworth, Carson, Dorseyville, Hampton, Ingomar, Marshall, Moon, Pine-Richland and Riverview participated. Pine-Richland High School GATE students spent the last three months creating a theme and developing writing activities to present at the workshop. Many of those students had once participated in the workshop as middle school students.

Writing stations included:

• And, Scene!
  by Kayla Karmanos and Anna Karmanos

• Party Poetry
  by Ella Yanni, Grace Lennie, Conor Barcaskey and Brooke Deegan

• Critic Review
  by Eliza Lazzaro, Jillian Uzelac and Jack Exline

• Character Backstory
  by Levina Jithesh, Phoenix Schwierking and Owen Russell

• Celebrity Interview
  by Breanna Franchak, Ella Giesecke and Ben Tamburri
  
  

After spending time at each writing station, students were given an opportunity to share their work. Their writing was also presented through music by PRHS musicians Jack Exline, Jillian Uzelac and Eliza Lazzaro. Jack Exline and Phoenix Schwierking worked as co-editors of the Writing Workshop booklet.

Thank you to the planners, organizers and chaperones of the workshop: Kathy Deal, Cecelia Kelly and Alex Batouyios from the Pine-Richland Middle School GATE Department and Tahnee Hines, Cyndi Poole and Dawn Herbst from the Pine-Richland High School GATE Department.