Want an Author at Your School?

It's that time of year again: time to sign up for a Writer-in-Residence at your school!

Get Lit!'s Writers-in-Residence Program pairs authors with K-12 schools in and around Spokane. The author works with three classrooms for an hour a week each, guiding discussions in literature and generating enthusiasm for writing. Since 2004, over 1,000 young writers have worked with a writer in residence, and each year they produce a Young Writers Anthology. Here is a poem from student Jacob Olsen at Lidgerwood Elementary from the 2009-2010 school year:

I Stopped a Volcano

I lived next to a volcano
and I was cooking
a saber-toothed tiger.
Before I took the first bite
the volcano erupted. All of the dinosaurs
were killed. I tried to stop it
but I fell in the volcano.
The volcano spit me out
and I was OK.
I stopped the volcano.
Then I called Yo-Yo my pet pterodactyl
and Yo-Yo picked me up with his legs
then I climbed on his back.
We flew away and my food
was burned from the volcano.

Here's another, by student Titus May at Lidgerwood Elementary:

Shiny Trumpet

My dad played a shiny new trumpet
in a band
he was really amazing
he played rock tunes
everyone loved him
I wanted to play it
but my grandpa sold it
for money
I miss that trumpet

The program also allows classroom teachers to develop new strategies to teach writing and literature, and the writers in residence leave behind their lesson plans so that other teachers can benefit from them as well.

Students from the WiR class at Barker Alternative School

From Momo Lesky:

Going For Now

walk me to the bus stop
high beams on in the dark cloudy rainy night
four wheeled vehicles race down the black tar river
from green to red, here's our chance to scamper across the road
the back cotton balls of sky let down wet cold tears
bright beamed and moaning like a woman in labor
the bus has come to take me home


There are a number of different options available. Your school can choose to have a Writer in Residence at your school for 26 weeks, 10 weeks, or a special field trip event.

Parents, teachers, students-have your school participate! For more information, look here for Options & Fees.