Creative Writing camp brings young students to UNC

UNC creative writing minors have been teaching middle and high school students how to put their imaginations into words.

CampWrite UNC, a two-week, creative writing day camp on campus, finishes its second year on Friday.

Katharine Griffiths, the camp’s co-president who graduated in May, said the completely student-run camp has grown and improved since its first year last summer.

She said the overall goal was to promote creativity by exposing middle and high school students to new writing genres they might not learn about in school and developing their creative writing skills.

Griffiths also said there are more than 55 children enrolled in the camp this summer from Orange County. All of them will go home with a book of everyone’s stories and new friendships at the end of the two weeks, she said.

“Through the camp they are meeting a really broad network of students that live in the state,” she said.

“They all become really close and throughout the year that is someone they can send their writing to and get comments back, which is really helpful.”

Griffiths said the improvements in the camp can be attributed to more planning and support from parents and the local school system.

“We all know a little bit better what we are doing,” she said. “Through a general good sense of support we decided to expand (the camp) this year.”

The camp is free for participants because of fundraising efforts throughout the academic year and volunteer camp counselors, she said.

“We are giving them a chance to use their imagination and write over the summer,” she said.

Madison Bakalar, a second-year counselor who also graduated in May, said her favorite part of being involved in the camp was when she saw students get excited about the stories and poems they were working on.

“I never had an opportunity like this — a free creative writing camp,” she said. “Just seeing them light up about their stories, it is one of my favorite things.”

Eric Clayton, a first-year counselor, said the middle school and high school campers learn from each other.

“The middle schoolers are catching on to how to present their ideas and communicate their feedback in a productive way,” he said.

He also said his favorite thing was forming close relationships with the campers and being able to help them one-on-one.

Griffiths said the camp is great for all students.

“I think that the single most rewarding experience of the camp is getting to work with the kids and empower a sense of confidence within them and cultivate a love for creative writing,” she said.