Our final session of PageSlayers may have been our smallest, but they made up for their size in the sheer creativity they poured into their work every day.
This was a special group. Many entered the classroom already dedicated writers with full stories, cartoons, and poems under their belts. Among the beautiful phrases they crafted was the class favorite, “chicken bombs.” They even created their very own superhero: Liz Glossy Stick, a congresswoman who stars in an epic tale about vindication.
Their words were honest, beautiful and charged with a certain freedom of expression that we sometimes lose with age.
Among the guest artists that visited them was local Miami screenwriter April Dobbins. Dobbins is an MFA candidate at the University of Miami and was recently selected as a 2017 Sundance Knight Fellow. The students enjoyed learning from her about writing screenplays and how to make a career in the film industry.
Another visiting artist who dropped by was spoken word artist, Dru Phoenix, a member of the poetry collective, Combat Hippies. In his session Dru taught students how to perform their poetry with emotion and brought out the expressive side of students that had already donned themselves with alter egos such as Jazzy J and Water Boy MLG.
Dru’s guidance came in handy when it was time for our students to read their work at the final summer showcase on July 28th. The students in session three were among the most excited to perform and one student in the group said the showcase was the best day of her life after it was all over.
Like all the students we had the pleasure of getting to know this summer, we had a wonderful time with our session three campers and have been sad ever since they left.
Time flies, and we have officially come to the end of our first summer. This year has been an exciting, inspiring ride for us. What started as a simple idea, truly blossomed into a program we hope can have a real impact on talented youth in Miami for years to come. We would not have made it this far were it not for the amazing supporters we’ve been blessed to count along the way.
Thank you, we appreciate you so much.
In the coming months, we’ll be hard at work preparing for next summer. We’ll be sure to be in touch along the way with updates about our progress. If you would like to help us, please consider donating to our fundraiser. Every dollar goes toward our program and is matched by the Knight Foundation.
In the meantime, keep slaying!
