writing

JULY CAMP ANNOUNCED!

/ Tim Saunders / Leave a comment

We’re running it back!

After a super-successful June week of camps, we’re back with another writing camp:

July 13- 17 ALL GENRE Short Stories Camp, 9AM – 12PM

The week of July 13-17 we’ll have a morning camp for ALL GENRE SHORT STORIES! This writing camp will be great for elementary and middle school writers who are interested in telling a short story in ANY genre! This includes:

Realistic Fiction

Historical Fiction

Science Fiction

Fantasy Fiction

Poetry

Movie Script

Personal Narrative

This camp is PERFECT for the writer bustling with imagination! During the week we’ll be writing a number of short stories in a variety of genres, learning from short stories we love, and unlocking the power of revising to make our writing as strong as possible. Each writer will leave with a camp printed anthology collecting our writing for the week! This camp will meet 9 AM to 12 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

All camps are intended for students in 3rd through 6th grade, but we’ll always consider a student who’s really interested in writing!

All camps are hosted by local elementary teacher Tim Saunders. Tim is a 5th grade teacher and former instructional coach in a West Michigan public school with over 20 years experience as a teacher and educator. Additionally, Tim is a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint, Grand Valley State University, and Western Michigan University. He’s also a past-president of the Kent Reading Council, member of the National Writing Project, Teacher Consultant of the Lake Michigan Writing Project, a four-time attendee of the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University, a presenter at the annual National Council of Teachers of English conference, and a published writer and journalist. Prior to earning his teaching degree, Tim completed a Film and Video degree from Grand Valley State University. Tim has also worked on a few local films with national distribution, as well as hosting video clubs during his elementary teaching career.

JUNE 2026 CAMP REGISTRATION OPEN!

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Our June 2026 offerings are officially here!

June 1- 5 ALL GENRE Short Stories Camp, 9AM – 12PM

June 1 – 5 Graphic Novel Camp, 1PM – 4PM

The week of June 1-5 we’ll have a morning camp for ALL GENRE SHORT STORIES! This writing camp will be great for elementary and middle school writers who are interested in telling a short story in ANY genre! This includes:

Realistic Fiction

Historical Fiction

Science Fiction

Fantasy Fiction

Personal Narrative

This camp is PERFECT for the writer bustling with imagination! During the week we’ll be writing a number of short stories in a variety of genres, learning from short stories we love, and unlocking the power of revising to make our writing as strong as possible. Each writer will leave with a camp printed anthology collecting our writing for the week! This camp will meet 9 AM to 12 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

We’ll also offer a June afternoon camp from 1 PM to 4 PM on GRAPHIC NOVELS! Have a writer who also loves to draw and create? We’ll take a deep dive into creating characters, learning some basics on illustration, creating thumbnails, and lettering. All along the way we’ll focus on developing stories with strong structures. We’ll explore all sorts of genres while working to create a finished short graphic novel in a week. This session takes place June 1-5 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

All camps are intended for students in 3rd through 6th grade, but we’ll always consider a student who’s really interested in writing!

Both camps are hosted by local elementary teacher Tim Saunders. Tim is a 5th grade teacher and former instructional coach in a West Michigan public school with over 20 years experience as a teacher and educator. Additionally, Tim is a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint, Grand Valley State University, and Western Michigan University. He’s also a past-president of the Kent Reading Council, member of the National Writing Project, Teacher Consultant of the Lake Michigan Writing Project, a four-time attendee of the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University, a presenter at the annual National Council of Teachers of English conference, and a published writer and journalist. Prior to earning his teaching degree, Tim completed a Film and Video degree from Grand Valley State University. Tim has also worked on a few local films with national distribution, as well as hosting video clubs during his elementary teaching career.

JULY 2025 CAMPS!

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We’re very excited to offer our second-ever VIDEO SHORT STORY CAMP! Much like our writing and graphic novel camps, we’ll be focused on telling short stories. This is NOT a camp on TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitch, or how to be a YouTube streamer. This is all about how to make a video short story. We’ll go through the steps of pre-production, production, and post-production, with an emphasis on telling stories with a beginning, middle, and end. We’ll learn about shot composition, editing, and some general theory. Last year 12 campers had an absolute BLAST making two completely original short movies. This is NOT to be missed! VIDEO SHORT STORY CAMP will take place July 21-25 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

We’ll also offer a July afternoon camp from 1 PM to 4 PM on GRAPHIC NOVELS! Have a writer who also loves to draw and create? We’ll take a deep dive into creating characters, learning some basics on illustration, creating thumbnails, and lettering. All along the way we’ll focus on developing stories with strong structures. We’ll explore all sorts of genres while working to create a finished short graphic novel in a week. This session takes place July 21-25 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

All camps are intended for students in 3rd through 7th grade, but we’ll always consider a student who’s really interested in writing!

Both camps are hosted by local elementary teacher Tim Saunders. Tim is a 5th grade teacher and former instructional coach in a West Michigan public school with over 20 years experience as a teacher and educator. Additionally, Tim is a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint, Grand Valley State University, and Western Michigan University. He’s a past-president of the Kent Reading Council, member of the National Writing Project, Teacher Consultant of the Lake Michigan Writing Project, a four-time attendee of the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University, and a published writer and journalist. Prior to earning his teaching degree, Tim completed a Film and Video degree from Grand Valley State University. Tim has also worked on a few local films with national distribution, as well as hosting video clubs during his elementary teaching career.

SUMMER 2025 CAMPS ANNOUNCED!

/ Tim Saunders / Leave a comment

Our summer 2025 offerings are officially here!

June 2- 6 Science Fiction Short Stories Camp, 9AM – 12PM

June 2 – 6 Video Camp, 1PM – 4PM

July 21-25 Video Camp, 9AM – 12PM

July 21 – 25 Graphic Novel Camp 1PM – 4PM

The week of June 2-6 we’ll have a morning camp for SCI-FI AND FANTASY SHORT STORIES! Our local schools and teachers do a great job teaching writing, but it’s very rare that students get the opportunity to flex creatively by imagining whole new worlds. This camp is PERFECT for the writer bustling with imagination! During the week we’ll be writing a number of short stories in a variety of genres, learning from short stories we love, and unlocking the power of revising to make our writing as strong as possible. Each writer will leave with a camp printed anthology collecting our writing for the week! This camp will meet 9 AM to 12 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

We’re very excited to offer our second-ever VIDEO SHORT STORY CAMP! Much like our writing and graphic novel camps, we’ll be focused on telling short stories. This is NOT a camp on TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitch, or how to be a YouTube streamer. This is all about how to make a video short story. We’ll go through the steps of pre-production, production, and post-production, with an emphasis on telling stories with a beginning, middle, and end. We’ll learn about shot composition, editing, and some general theory. Last year 12 campers had an absolute BLAST making two completely original short movies. This is NOT to be missed! This session takes place June 2-6 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

Additionally, a second and separate VIDEO SHORT STORY CAMP will also take place July 21-25 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

We’ll also offer a July afternoon camp from 1 PM to 4 PM on GRAPHIC NOVELS! Have a writer who also loves to draw and create? We’ll take a deep dive into creating characters, learning some basics on illustration, creating thumbnails, and lettering. All along the way we’ll focus on developing stories with strong structures. We’ll explore all sorts of genres while working to create a finished short graphic novel in a week. This session takes place July 21-25 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Mayflower Congregational Church. Sign up here. $250

All camps are intended for students in 3rd through 6th grade, but we’ll always consider a student who’s really interested in writing!

Both camps are hosted by local elementary teacher Tim Saunders. Tim is a 5th grade teacher and former instructional coach in a West Michigan public school with over 20 years experience as a teacher and educator. Additionally, Tim is a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint and Grand Valley State University, past-president of the Kent Reading Council, member of the National Writing Project, Teacher Consultant of the Lake Michigan Writing Project, a four-time attendee of the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University, and a published writer and journalist. Prior to earning his teaching degree, Tim completed a Film and Video degree from Grand Valley State University. Tim has also worked on a few local films with national distribution, as well as hosting video clubs during his elementary teaching career.