Mez Blume, author
Semester 1 classes are over! We wrapped up the final classes this week with a lesson on story structure, followed by reading one of my favorite Christmas stories in each class. After reading the story, we analyzed the structure, the elements that make a story a story. Following Christmas break, we will continue to employ story structure in writing stories, book reviews, and literary analysis essays.
With the focus on story structure, this week was the perfect time for Mez Blume’s Creative Writing Workshop. One of my past students, Sophie Burkhardt, now in college, is interning as Mez’s P.R. agent! She contacted me about the workshop, which conflicted with my Wednesday 10-11:30 AM class. But after class, I raced over and caught part of the last hour.
It was a wonderful presentation on story writing! Mez, an engaging teacher and published author, clearly inspires her young aspiring writers. One of my current Level 2 students attended the workshop. Already a super story writer, she will certainly put her new knowledge to use immediately!
It was also exciting to talk to Sophie and hear about her college and career journey. She noted, “At this point, almost my whole day is spent writing, either for school or for my internship.” Sophie was an excellent student in my classes and her hard work has paid off greatly. Close to graduation, she already has a job lined up. I hope to interview her on Zoom soon to inspire my students!
At the end of the workshop, I purchased Mez’s most recent book, Churchill’s S.O.C.K.s: Special Operations Cadet Kids! I’m reading it right now and anticipate adding it to my reading list as a Level 1 choice for Semester 2 book reviews.
This week’s focus on stories enjoyably ended one semester and invitingly previewed the next!
