Students enjoy reading horror and definitely enjoy writing their own tantalizing tales. After analyzing examples of the genre for what creates fear and dread, Penny guides them into frightening fiction of their own. By end-of-day, the young "horrorists" will have a first draft to share.

Grades: 7 - 9

The mentors will put students on the right track writing screenplays. Over the course of the day students will be brainstorming ideas, story-boarding, beginning a film treatment and composing the screenplay dialog and description - all the work before calling in the cameras.

Grades: 6 - 8

The digital revolution in technology has made the once expensive and cost-prohibitive tools of movie making accessible to the masses. Future Steven Spielbergs learn how to make the most out of a digital video camera and computer editing systems, as well as the basics of making a movie from start to finish, including casting, directing, cinematography, sound, lights, set direction, and editing. This intensive hands-on process will involve every student in multiple aspects of making a short movie. A final copy of the movie will be made available for each school.

Grades: 6 - 8

"Lend Me Your Ear!"
"There's Something Rotten in Denmark !"
"A Pox Upon Your House!"

Whether you'd rather party with Romeo or Lady Macbeth, whether you'd rather laugh at a tragedy or cry at a comedic wedding, whether you'd rather be a midsummer night's fairy or a murderous king, The Bard Billy Shakespeare has something of interest for you.

Come to this workshop to sharpen your love of words, increase your knowledge of dramatic structure, and to mix-and-mash famous Shakespeare quotes and plots. We'll use the greatest writer in the English language to highlight what makes drama work and show us how to create memorable characters, all while using powerful and poetic language .

Grades: 7 - 8

Each participating student will be a writer for a day of interactive, thematic, real-world writing situations to "hook" the imagination and/or memories of the young to the wonder and power of the written word. Theme for May 2010 is "Dispatches From the Front": Writing from and through the Civil War.

Grade: 5