Students improve their writing skills in creative writing class

Submitted by tiffanie.miley on

The creative writing class is a popular class at Springville Junior High School where students can practice their writing skills and have opportunities to write.  Mr. Trent Mikesell, English teacher at SJHS, is the new creative writing teacher at the junior high.

The creative writing class is held in first period, in Mr. Mikesell’s class- room 54. Mr. Mikesell took over the class from Ms. Tiffanie Miley and Ms. Rachel Neeley who taught it in years past. The class won’t be too different from last year; this year the class is doing many of the same assignments

According to Mr. Mikesell, the purpose of creative writing is to improve writing skills, “But the main goal is to give students who want to write a chance to write.” The class is writing many different types of things. Currently they are doing fantasy stories, but they will also write scary stories, and create comic books and spoofs.

To improve writing skills, Mr. Mikesell will focus on teaching two or three writing skills per paper. For example, in the first paper students focused on using descriptive words. Amanda Schultz, a seventh grader at SJHS, said that creative writing “Teaches you a lot of good writing techniques, and helps your readers visualize while reading.” 

Students think Mr. Mikesell is a good teacher for creative writing. Ethan Swendsen, also a seventh grader, said that Mr. Mikesell “Doesn’t rush you, and lets you do the steps on your own pace.”

Mr. Mikesell himself is taking a writing class through an online program. “It’s fun to be able to talk about some of the things I am learning with the students,” said Mr. Mikesell, “We have some of the same struggles.”

Mr. Mikesell said, “Don’t take creative writing if you want an easy A, but if you love to spend time writing and really care about improving your writing, take the class. You’ll probably enjoy it.”

Attributions
Mason Barnes, SJHS Staff Writer