Naomi Shihab Nye leading a poetry workshop for the foundation's Teen Writers

The Laura (Riding) Jackson Teen Writing Workshops, partially funded through a grant from Quail Valley Charities, are free, interactive writing workshops offered throughout the school year and are open to teens ages 13-19. Workshops offered vary from year to year. Topics include: Comics the Marvel Way, Song Lyrics, Computer Coding, Screenwriting, Spoken Word Poetry, YA Fiction and Writing the College Essay. Each of these dynamic workshops, taught by either university faculty or published writers, gives students opportunities to not only explore but also obtain valuable feedback on their creative writing.

Our highly successful college essay writing workshops have helped hundreds of students learn how to craft impressive college entrance essays that are sure to gain the attention of admission officers. Through the Teen Writing Workshops, local students have won college scholarships and earned top honors in state and national contests, including the Guideposts Young Writers Contest, The Concord Review, and the Parade Magazine and Zora Neale Hurston poetry contests.