ARTech Writing Workshop - by Raena Mueller-Dahl

Every Thursday, which just happens to be my favorite day of the week, we climb in the school vans after lunch and wander down to The Key. When we get there our teacher Annie unlocks the door and we all scream in to get the best spot on the comfiest couch while an unusual contentment fills the air. And when we all get settled in, Annie utters the magic words that set us all free.<!--StartFragment-->

“Okay everybody! We’ll meet back here at ten-to!” Then we head out into the community. Actually, during the wintertime and whenever it’s cold outside, we all stay together in the small space of The Key and scribble down all of our thoughts, feelings, and creativeness into our notebooks until ten minutes to two when we start sharing and commenting on what everyone wrote. But when it’s warmer, we scatter to all different places downtown and, along with the magic from The Key; we gain inspiration from the surroundings that fill up our pages. 

Now, as we have all learned from the infamous Spiderman movie, with freedom comes responsibility. That is true with most anything, and is especially true for our writing workshop class. Annie and our Artech director, Simon Tyler, both fully support and maintain the no-tolerance rule. The students in our class definitely take that seriously. I mean, how many classes do you get to go downtown all afternoon and write about whatever you want? We don’t want to lose that experience, or the fun!

And it’s true. We have lots of fun in this class! Our group is also very diverse, in person and in writing preference. Kyle is just one of the many bright, intensely spirited characters in our writing workshop. He might just be the most entertaining and extreme one though. Don’t be fooled by his high-energy output, he continues to amaze the entire class with his creative, intricate, and thoughtful writings week after week. 

I’m not trying to brag or anything, but I think we have a seriously talented group of writers. When I joined the class this year I was unaware of the whole literature world. Well, unaware of any literature besides the Harry Potter series, which is quite a feat for some people. This opportunity has helped me learn to grow by giving me a stimulating environment, exposing me to really good stories, poems, and very unique rants that have, along with giving me inspiration to write my own stories and poems, revealed that mysterious literary world that I now feel a part of. 

This class is more than just learning how to write and read though. Much more. It’s even more about learning how to listen. Aside from teachers reminding you over and over again to kindly shut your mouth and listen each day in school, you don’t really learn how to truly listen in school. In our very unique class though, I feel like we do. During our circles we are genuinely in tune with each other and feel the emotions behind the words in all of our creative writing. That is what I think being a part of a community should be like. 

When we go to downtown Northfield to write during the day, we are no longer just teenagers walking around during school hours, but true community members that belong there. Sure, we get a few glances with faces asking what we’re doing outside of school during the day, but it’s all worth the troubling glances when we get to share the great stories inspired by them! 

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