By Isabel F.

“I love writing so much, and I wanted to know if others loved to write as much as I did,” said Sandi S., founder of the Longfellow MS Creative Writing Club. “So I decided to test what I was capable of and reached out.”

Sandi, a seventh grade student here at LMS, has loved reading for as long as she can remember but only really got into writing in fifth grade. Her love for writing began when she felt she’d run out of stories to read, so she thought, “If I can’t find a book I want to read, why don’t I just write it myself?”

Quickly, writing became a passion of hers, but she didn’t have anyone to share it with – until this year when she decided to found the Creative Writing Club.

However, starting a club proved to be a bit harder than it seemed.

“Making the club was a whole process in itself, but I personally felt really conflicted. What if no one joined? What if it was boring? What if TOO many people joined? Would they even listen to me? What if the 8th graders didn’t take me seriously?” Sandi worried.

Nevertheless, she pressed on past those worries, but there was still another obstacle to creating a new club. School rules require that a staff member sponsor the club.

Sandi didn’t have one at first. So, in order to fulfill that requirement, she reached out to Ms. Duggan, the Journalism and Creative Writing teacher. Ms. Duggan agreed to sponsor it, and so the Creative Writing Club was born.

“I’m always happy to interact with students who are enthusiastic about writing,” said Ms. Duggan. “I love hearing the different work people are doing and seeing what they come up with in the warmups.”

The club currently meets on Fridays at 2:30 and is thriving.

“The level of comfort I got from knowing other people loved to write and knew what writer’s block felt like was…amazing,” added Sandi. “I really found that this club has brought us, writers, together.”