Upcoming Events › Youth Workshops

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12 - 14 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Melissa Michal Slocum Are you passionate about important social topics and silenced issues? Can you see robots taking over the world, or creatures trying to steal each other’s land? Science fiction and fantasy are generative spaces for social justice dialogue. Considering such writers as Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood, we will be…

Member Price: $63 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 1.5 hours Ages: 6 - 8 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Alexa Scott-Flaherty When we’re young, stories, books, and poems are our first doorway into a magical world. This camp celebrates exploring our imaginations and imaginary worlds. By engaging with such stories as Malcolm Mitchell’s “The Magician’s Hat,” Mac Barnett’s “Extra Yarn,” Grace Lin’s “A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” Nancy Tupper-Ling’s “The Yin-Yang Sisters”…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Almeta Whitis Do you think one person can change the world? What about a kid or a young adult? Think of Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Amanda Gorman. These  are only a few of the young people who, by charging the air with their voices and putting pen to paper, are changing our world. You,…

Member Price: $165 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 sessions, 4 hours with lunch 12 pm-1 pm Ages: 10 - 13 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Tracy Cretelle So you want to write a book, but you need a plan? Learn how to plot a book chapter by chapter, taking your great idea and turning it into a juicy plot. We’ll access resources from a variety of arts & cultural organizations, and observe how ordinary…

Member Price: $160 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 10 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Chris Fanning Immerse yourself in Harry Potter’s world! This workshop is for young wizards and witches who haven’t yet read the full series. With dramatic read-alouds, creative projects, and visits from special professors, students will dig into the first four books of the series in a supportive environment. Using the Floo Network, we’ll Zoom…

Member Price: $63 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 1.5 hours Ages: 6 - 8 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Sarah Brown Are stories constantly running through your imagination? Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper! In this camp we will learn what makes a good story by exploring such essential elements as character, plot, setting, conflict, and more. In this welcoming and friendly virtual environment, we’ll learn, write, and share.…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 1 July 12 - 16 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12 - 14 Deadline to Register: July 5, 11:59 pm Instructor: Jessica Merrills We are living in a time of unprecedented reckoning. A global pandemic has turned our world upside down. More light is being shed on inequities and racial and social injustice. Through the ages, in times of uncertainty, people have turned to reading and writing to make sense of their experiences or to…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12 - 14 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Almeta Whitis Tell me a tale that always was. Read me a story that I can be in...Turn me around so that I can see everything I was meant to be.” —Michael Kiwanuka, from Tell Me a Tale Why is telling a story more important today than ever before? The intimacy and power of…

Member Price: $63 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 1.5 hours Ages: 6 - 8 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Alexa Scott-Flaherty Be a change maker! We all have the power to make the world a better place, one action at a time. And stories, true and fictional, have the power to guide us. This camp helps us learn about the heroes among us, at all levels of society and in different times, and…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8-11 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Sara Bickweat Penner Calling young thespians! Are you a world builder, a lover of language, a reader with a flare for expression and imagination? We’ll spend the week walking into the world of William Shakespeare, exploring his life and times, and unlocking the secrets to his lyricism and use of language.  We’ll play theatre games and…

Member Price: $63 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 1.5 hours Ages: 6 - 8 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Marna Rossi Take part in wonderful adventures from the Magic Tree House series. Celebrate and appreciate diversity while learning about people, animals and the cultures from around the world. Join Annie and Jack as they solve problems, help others, and travel around the globe and through time. We might visit China, ancient Ireland, or…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Rylie Day Flash fiction is a very short form of story writing where every word is essential. This genre has all the parts of a story—characters, setting, and plot—but in a nutshell. We’ll learn to hook the reader and then, through an unexpected twist, leave the reader wanting more. In writing our own pieces,…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 2 July 19 - 23 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12- 14 Deadline to Register: July 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: Wendy Low Whether you aspire to write fantasy, science fiction, historical, or contemporary realist novels, you’ll want to develop the skills and discover the tools that successful fiction writers use to bring their stories to life. We will focus on examples and exercises that help develop characters, setting, and atmosphere; choosing point of view; and…

Member Price: $215 SummerWrite Week 3 July 26 - 30 5 sessions, 4 hours with lunch 12 pm-1 pm Ages: 8 - 13 Deadline to Register: July 19, 11:59 pm Instructors: Jamie Bozek, David Broadnax, Sarah Brown, Tracy Cretelle, Rylie Day, Chris Fanning, Michelle LaVarnway, Tracy Nemecek, Sara Penner, Alexa Scott-Flaherty, Katherine Varga Immerse yourself in Harry Potter’s world by Zooming into Hogwarts classes through the Floo Network. Throughout the week,  such classes as Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms,…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 4 August 2 - 6 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12 - 14 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Katherine Varga Do you love theater? Have you always wished you could see the characters and stories in your head come to life in front of you? Then this class is for you! Through games, writing exercises, and reader’s theatre, we’ll learn the basics of playwriting and write short plays to be performed over…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 4 August 2 - 6 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 10 - 13 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Tracy Nemecek Reading can act as a mirror, offering us the chance to see our stories reflected back to us. It also can be a window, providing views into someone else’s experiences. But what happens when the mirrors and windows we encounter in books do not reflect everyone’s stories, and do not provide accurate…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 4 August 2 - 6 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Rylie Day Have you ever wondered what it’s like living in a magical world, like that of Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, or The Borrowers? How do we leave everyday routines and leap into fantastical realms? Better yet, how do we create our own? Come explore surprising worlds of all shapes and sizes and…

Member Price: $ 335 SummerWrite Weeks 4 & 5 August 2 - 13 10 sessions, 4 hours with lunch 12 pm-1 pm Ages: 10 - 15 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor:  Stacy Lawrence   Calling future writers, visual storytellers, artists, & filmmakers! In this two-week camp, Deaf and hard of hearing campers have a rare opportunity to meet an impressive lineup of writers, visual storytellers, educators, and artists from all corners of the country to discuss their…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 4 August 2 - 6 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Wendy Low Percy Jackson is mighty with his sword; his creator, Rick Riordan, is mighty with his pen. Experiment with the writing methods Riordan uses to weave a siren spell. You will need to prepare by reading the first book of the series, The Lightning Thief. In class, we will mine it for models…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 4 August 2 - 6 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 10 - 13 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Neyda Colón-DiMaria Todos tenemos una historia y ahora necesitamos unirnos para contarlas porque cada cuento importa. Durante este programa vamos a ‘tomar espacio, hacer espacio’ por la poesía para contar la historia de nosotros, de nuestra culturas, y nuestra gente. Al fin del programa, los estudiantes van a mostrar, en forma de poema, el…

Member Price: $260 SummerWrite Weeks 4 & 5 August 2 - 13 10 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 9 - 16 Deadline to Register: July 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Rashida Burch-Washington & John Watson Over the course of this two- week camp, students transform into a virtual cast and crew to make a short movie based on a Newbery Medal-winning book. You will learn how to run cameras, set up lights, operate audio equipment, direct, and edit. Oh, and did we…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 5 August 9 - 13 5 Sessions, 3 hours Ages: 12 - 14 Deadline to Register: August 2, 11:59 pm Instructor: Julie Donofrio Have you ever seen a comedy improv show, or the television show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and thought, “That looks like fun!” It is fun, and here is your chance to see for yourself. Comedy improvisation is the art of acting without a script. We will play many theatre games, some…

Member Price: $208 SummerWrite Week 5 August 9 - 13 5 Split Sessions: 9 am - 12 pm (3 hours) 1:30 - 3 pm(1.5 hours) Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: August 2, 11:59 pm Instructor: Kate Whorton & more TBA NOTE: This camp is a hybrid camp. Students will spend the mornings, 9 am-12 pm,  in-person at the Flower City Arts Center, 713 Monroe Avenue (see below for COVID safety protocols), then afternoons, 1:30-3 pm, on Zoom with…

Member Price: $125 SummerWrite Week 5 August 9 - 13 5 Sessions, 2.5 hours Ages: 8 - 11 Deadline to Register: August 2, 11:59 pm Instructor:  Kimberly Caceci Did you know that one in five people has a disability? Popular books like Wonder, El Deafo, the modern retelling of Little Women Meg, Jo, Beth, & Amy, Jacqueline Woodson’s Before the Ever After and even the Percy Jackson Series all portray characters with disabilities and tell a story about how the…