Welcome to Athena’s Quill for Spring, 2023! We’re so excited to present the work of many of our wonderful Athena’s writers and artists again. New this semester is Prof. Lisa’s Poetry Party—you’ll see lots of creative exploration from those students.
It’s important for young people to feel that writing is creative expression, whether they are writing a story, a poem, or an essay. When students feel that they are able to express themselves, they care more about how they craft their work. Unlike many writing courses available online, Athena’s courses allow students to explore and discover their best writing process.
If you’re interested in why we emphasize creative writing rather than formal writing for younger students, read my “A spoonful of sugar” essay. It’s clear that more, earlier, and dogmatic writing instruction is not helping students. The more our schools double down on emphasizing writing that removes student agency from the work, the more our kids dislike writing. Few people enjoy writing—or reading—the standard five-paragraph essay. Here at Athena’s we say, “Let them play!”
Learning through enjoyment is the best way to go, and clearly, our students are enjoying themselves! Please enjoy their work from this semester, and also explore past issues of The Quill.
Dear Esteemed Representative of the Poison Ivy Species for the National Interspecies Defense and Equality Team, It has recently come to my attention that your [...]
Along with our classroom forum for students’ stories and poems, an exciting part of WriteNOW Workshop is creating and sharing fresh new work each week [...]
Opal glowered as Sapphire, furious and aghast at her twin sister’s complete shamelessness. Their brother, Ash-Lee, held the leash of the family cat, Oberon, in [...]
Cold rusted things As cold rusted things turn inside my brain, As ancient cogs, soaked beneath the rain Cold and clear snowflakes drifting through the [...]
Not only does Athena’s Quill showcase our writers—we love to showcase art, too! Here is some wonderful artwork created by Athena’s students. Xan is a [...]
(Content warnings: Nondescript implied mentions of violence) I’ve had my fair share (and several more) of paranormal encounters before, but none quite like this. I [...]
This piece focuses on two of the main characters, Innokentiy Zvezdochkov and Aleksei Kholodov. They are in an old apartment block having a nice conversation [...]
“You know it’s better this way.” “Better? Better this way?” Ivo snapped. “That’s cheap. This is gluttony.” “Gluttony is for poseurs and for faking belief.” [...]
Lost Dreams Iridescent, multicolored, meandering, Gone at the first touch of day. Bright, wonderful, wandering, Swirls of wings flit away. Radiant, shining, shimmering, Their true [...]
The fish wants to get friends, but almost every other fish likes sports, like ultimate fishbee, where you throw a seashell around and follow some [...]
–Chapter One– –Nocturnal– It was very dark, long past midnight. But it was still beautiful. The moon’s pale reflection rippled in the dark pool. I [...]
(Warning! There is mild violence and language in this story!) Arc 1 – The Dawn of Heroes (Excerpt) Prologue When animals die, they are reincarnated [...]
