by Mel Wells
This is our first year having WITS writers-in-residence at Gresham High School and it’s been a great semester, culminating in a fantastic reading with lots of students, parents, and community members at Origin’s Coffee on a Thursday evening.
WITS writers Serena Crawford and Matt Zrebski worked with teachers Jim Gardenhire, Tina Kuchinski, Crystel Kinnee, and Alethea Mock, teaching semester-long creative writing residencies in their classes. At Origin’s, 17 student writers read their work for an attentive audience of peers, parents, and teachers. Mr. Gardenhire and Ms. Kuchinski read their work as well, alongside Serena Crawford and Matt Zrebski. Many of the pieces were monologues, since Matt Zrebski is a playwright, and several students who worked with Serena Crawford wrote pieces full of suspense and creepy details. Many thanks to everyone who read and participated, and to the staff at Gresham HS for helping our first foray into east county be so successful!
