Creative Writing

Tiger Times

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History, Mission, and Objectives

From its inception in 1997, the six-year creative writing program has focused on the development of skills which would allow students upon graduation, to pursue a career as a professional writer or to work in the fields of journalism, publishing, and other areas related to creative writing. The department consists of Director, Bill Steinmetz, but also of five professional adjunct instructors who add their expertise and energy to the largest magnet program at Stivers.

 

Students in the seventh grade begin to develop their craft as a writer in the survey classes for middle school students which focus not so much on technique, but on standard writing form. During the six-year program, students develop their craft as a writer, experimenting with different genres of poetry, prose, and scriptwriting. A professional writing portfolio is an expectation of the department, and this process begins in the seventh grade year where student writing samples are collected, edited, and archived in the Creative Writing room. Each year, student writing is preserved and archived and upon graduation, each senior student is given his or her professional writing portfolio which can be used during college entrance and scholarship interviews.

 

Participation

Each of the instructors in the Creative Writing department encourage all students to participate in the activities planned by the department, including spoken word performances during Urban Nights, Write of Way Café, The Black History Celebration, and Stivers Celebrates. Because we are writers, we also encourage students to enter several different writing contests, including the Martin Luther King Writing Contest, the Dayton and Montgomery County Library Writing Contest, the Max May Memorial Holocaust Writing Contest, and the Dayton Daily News/Antioch Writer’s Workshop Contest.

 

There are two required activities each school year: participation in Write of Way Café, our only fundraising event, and submission in the Scholastics Art and Writing Competition. We  are planning field trips so that students can experience an event, and later write about those experiences. Participation in any department field trip requires that: magnet fees are paid and current with no outstanding balance; students have an A or B in creative writing; students exhibit exemplary and cooperative behavior; and students have superior attendance with few tardies to school or class.

 

Activities of the Creative Writing Department 

  • December 9th  Stivers Celebrates! at Stivers Centennial Hall - 7:00pm
  • March 2nd  "Write of Way Café" Fundraiser at Stivers - 7:00pm

Accolades of the Creative Writing Department in 2010

  • Twenty C.W. (Creative Writing) students participated in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month
  • Ten C.W. students received Regional Gold Keys in the Scholastics Art and Writing Competition
  • Creative Writing students won First, Second, and Third places in the Max May Holocaust Writing Contest
  • Katrina Scott won First Place Teen Fiction in the Dayton Daily News/Antioch Writer’s Workshop Contest
  • Bill Steinmetz won Second Place Adult Fiction in the Dayton Daily News/Antioch Writer’s Workshop Contest
  • 7th and 8th grade students swept the M.L.K. Writing Contest
  • Twenty C.W. students participated in Script Frenzy, the national script writing competition
  • Four C.W. students wrote and performed “The Greensboro Four” for the Black History Celebration
  • Sixteen C.W. students participated in Changed for Good: The Wicked Project 10-Minute Playwriting Festival. Two plays won top honors and were performed by professional actors at the Schuster Center.
  • The Journalism class produces “one of the best high school newspapers in the country” and produced the 2010 yearbook.
  • Stivers Creative Writing Department spoken word ensembles performed at the spring and fall Urban Nights in Downtown Dayton.

Professional Adjunct Instructors

  • 7th grade - Audrey Logan
  • 8th grade - Christina Dendy 
  • 10th grade - Joy Levett, 
  • 11th grade Fiction Writing - Juliet Monbeck
  • 11th grade Spoken Word Performance - Sharon Lane
  • 12th grade Memoir Writing - Juliet Monbeck
  • 12th grade Spoken Word Performance - Sharon Lane
  • Bill Steinmetz is the Director and teaches all grade levels

 

For more information, contact Bill Steinmetz at 542-7425 or wsteinme@dps.k12.oh.us.

 

For audition information for Grades 7-8, please go to the 7-8 Audition Information page HERE.

For audition information for Grades 9-12, please go to the 9-12 Audition Information page HERE.

 

Performance information can be found on the calendar.