Indiana Writers in the Schools is an outreach program designed to introduce principles of creative writing into Indiana public schools and institutions. WITS fellows travel the area in teams of two, serving students in grades K-12. Students volunteer for training in the WITS program, and when they satisfy the training regimen, they are called Teaching Fellows.

These volunteers are drawn from students in the B.F.A. program in Creative Writing, the B.A. program for English Literature, and the B.A. program for Secondary Education. The training begins with a series of meetings on the University of Evansville campus in which experienced fellows present methods of teaching poetry and fiction writing in Indiana schools. The emphasis is on continual innovation and on encouraging fellows to design their own methods for teaching students to use concrete, sensory-based language to describe their experiences and feelings.

Following these introductory meetings, new volunteers are paired with experienced fellows who serve as mentors and work with the new fellows during their first year in the program. WITS also holds follow-up training sessions at which fellows share ideas that have worked in the classroom and work in small groups to brainstorm new ideas.

Students come to this university's Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from all over the United States and from around the world, choosing this program in part because they hope to improve their writing skills and expand their understanding of writing as a craft.

Through participation in WITS, not only do they help younger students to discover a love of literature and writing, but also they often deepen their understanding of their own work. These fellows grow as writers as they work to communicate their relationship with the art of writing to the schoolchildren they serve. Finally, since many fellows intend to pursue careers as teachers themselves, they learn methods of innovation and curriculum design that will benefit them throughout their professional lives. We continue to be pleased that so many gifted young people wish to further their education as writers, as teachers, and as citizens of the world that the WITS program can offer them.

Click here to learn more about how to request a WITS visit for your school

IF DOGS WERE LEAVES

If dogs were leaves,
There would be a lot of dogs
In the trees. They will bark
Really loudly. Then they'll fall
Down, and I will rake them up. They'll bark at me,
And I'll put them in a trash bag, Put them in a trash can,
And let the dogs go
In the garbage trucks.
Then I'll have to start over again. I'll be mad, real mad.

- Cartez O'Neal

FLOWER

It looks like a squished
Orange.
It feels like a fuzzy
Dog.
It smells like a sweet
Grapefruit.
It tastes like a
Tangerine.
It sounds like a
Bird.
It was in a vase
and it hopped out!

- Lauren Craddock

THE MAN-SCULPTURE OUTSIDE

I see a bush, a building,
Cars going by, paper, a sign,
Trees, and a tower.
I hear cars rumble by,
Bluebirds, robins, blue jays,
And finches.
I smell grass like perfume,
Trash, roses, sewers, daffodils,
And sunflowers.
I taste dirt, spiders that crawl
On my mouth, fumes from cars and trucks,
Rain, and leaves.
I feel beetles and ants, bees, the hot sun,
Snow, praying mantises, and caterpillars.
And when no one is around,
I eat the grass, dance, put on clothes,
And sing like Elvis.

- Group Poem

To receive more information on the Writers in the Schools Program or to request a visit for your school, please contact Professor Rob Griffith at 812-488-2962, or by email at rg37@evansville.edu