Melissa Rizzo and Teddy Smedley, Centerfold Editors
@tsmedleycourant @mrizzo_courant

Writing

Power of the Pen, an in-house writing competition founded by Ms. Brown and Ms. Hamill, gives students an opportunity to receive recognition for their creative writing. This competition accepted submissions until April 21st: its main goal being to offer writers a chance to share their work within our school community. 

Several statewide and nationwide writing competitions including The Connecticut Writing Project, and The Scholastic Writing Awards allow students to publish their work. However, as both Ms. Hamill and Ms. Brown noticed, submitting to these competitions can be daunting for students. 

The Power of the Pen therefore creates an accessible platform for more students to reap benefits from publishing their work. “Sharing your writing, taking risks, and feeling vulnerable, especially within our school community, allows students to receive support and feel a sense of self-pride,” said Ms. Brown.

Junior Adrian McMahon was recently awarded an Honorable Mention for his piece titled “Abuelita” which he submitted to the Power of the Pen. “I have previously doubted my writing abilities, but being recognized in this competition has given me more self-confidence, and motivation to share my work in the future,” said Adrian.

“Once I complete a draft, I reread it to make it clearer, more vivid and smooth out the rough spots. Then I share it with my writing groups. I encourage everyone to join a writing group for the deadlines and the feedback.”

Jack Powers, Author

For students who feel apprehensive about sharing their writing, Ms. Hamill suggests starting first with a small group. “Start with some people you feel you can trust, so even if they don’t like the piece, you’ll still walk away feeling supported. It can still be scary even sharing with friend groups, but start where there’s some safe space for you to feel just supported in your effort of trying,” said Ms. Hamill.

Film

One upcoming opportunity to view creativity through the lens of a student is the NCHS New Age Film Festival. This will be its ninth year, and while the due date for submissions has already passed, it’s not too late to view the festival itself. 

“Students have a lot to say, and they have voices that need to be heard,” said Jennifer Sinski, a filmmaking teacher and advisor for both Film Club and the Film Festival. “I know that putting your work out there is not easy to do by any means, but it is really important for people to see your perspective and your point of view, and for you to get feedback from other people and see what they’re doing as well,” said Ms. Sinski

Olivia Marotta, a Sophomore who is submitting her work to the Festival, is glad that she decided to take that risk. “Being able to share my work has absolutely had an impact on my creative process,” said Liv. “I create a lot, not only to impress myself but also to see how my work can impact other people, just like how I’ve been inspired by so many people’s work.”

As a student who is interested in sharing her work with others, Liv has made some changes to her schedule. “My schedule is accommodated to fit more electives that have me express my creativity, from Music Technology to more hands-on classes like sculpture,” Liv said. “I also enjoyed taking Filmmaking the previous semester. It definitely helped me gain the motivation to enter into the film festival. I do wish in core classes we had more creative projects, so that we could not only retain material but also express ourselves.”

Ms. Sinski believes that it’s very important that students have a medium to share their work with their community. “A lot of times high school students will publish their work on YouTube and it gets shared amongst a small circle and maybe goes a little bigger beyond that, but this allows community members to watch and tune in at a single time,” she said. “It also allows people to connect with each other in the community, and that kind of connection is something that we realized, especially after Covid, is really important. A unique community is a connected one.”

Ms. Sinski advises aspiring creators, particularly filmmakers, to “pay attention to what’s happening in storytelling of the time. Watch as many movies as you can. Listen to interviews, listen to podcasts, listen to filmmakers, directors, actors – do your homework. Do some research and pay attention to techniques, because then that can be applied into your own and you can build off of what you already know and what you’ve learned,” Ms. Sinski said.

“Also, don’t take no for an answer,” said Ms. Sinski. “A lot of times there’re nos when it comes to production and you have to be able to say, ‘okay, here’s my no, but I need a yes.’ Keep pushing, even if you hit a wall.”

Poetry

Poetry Fest, which was on April 27th, was another opportunity for students at NCHS to share their writing. “We came from wanting there to be more ways to celebrate student writing,” said Kristen Brown, an English teacher. “As English teachers, we’re always looking for ways to kind of make writing more authentic and reach a wider audience than just the English teacher, especially when we see all the time what beautiful, wonderful things kids write. It sometimes feels really heartbreaking that it just lives in my Google Drive. And so we were thinking a contest could be a really great way to celebrate some of that wonderful work and try to, in our even sort of small way, try to publish some of that work to a wider audience.”

“You’ll hear students say, ‘Wow, that piece was amazing. I love the imagery in that. I could visualize that piece,’” said English teacher, Maggie Hamill. “But you also hear responses that are encouraging of the person’s voice and perspective, and so our goal here is not just to celebrate talented writing, but also to empower student voices.”

Ms. Brown shared that some of Poetry Fest’s importance lies in its lack of academic weight. “Writing for an audience beyond your teacher is more authentic,” she said. “In school you’re writing for a grade most of the time, but creating ways to share that work can make it more meaningful for kids.”

As important as sharing your work is, Jack Powers, an author who recently spoke at NCHS, believes publishing shouldn’t be the only measure of success. “I’d recommend looking for open mics to get the chance to hear how a poem sounds aloud and in front of people,” said Mr. Powers. “Even a writing group can give you that opportunity. Find two or three friends and meet once a month. Never leave one meeting without scheduling the next.”

Above all else, Ms. Hamill encourages students to utilize resources that provide an opportunity for empowerment. “Your voice and how you feel in the world matters,” she said. “How you’re developing who you want to be matters to not just you and your own personal development, but to the people around you, and I think that student voice as empowerment comes out in the Spectator, in the Power of the Pen contest, and that’s what we’re aiming for as well with Poetry Fest.”

Advice on writing from author, Jack Powers:

“I try now to write from the right side of my brain. One big piece of advice I got in grad school was from a professor, Mark Wunderlich, who said his job was to make us each stranger in our own ways. I’ve tried to continue to develop my strangeness. And all my teachers helped me realize that I have to write a lot to get to the good stuff. Don’t wait for inspiration. Try to write pieces only you can write. Don’t be afraid to have fun when you write. Write as your first reader and write toward surprise.”

Jack Powers, Author

Make sure to check out this interview with Mr. Chesbro about his advice to students and experience with publishing!