This month, we launched a new weekly program with 9th graders in the Dream Academy at Asbury Park High School. Focusing on reflective writing and art, we’ve spent our weeks creating heart maps of what matters most to us, writing memories of people we love, and unearthing poetry in the pages of young adult novels through Blackout Poetry. We have loved getting to know these bright, talented students and look forward to writing with them in the upcoming weeks!
We are excited to announce Life Stories as a new outreach program. Our Life Stories class gives adults the opportunity to explore and reflect on different themes that have been influential in shaping their lives. This month, we hosted a free one-day workshop at Spring Lake Library to kick off a four-week class that begins Wednesday, March 12 (6 to 7:30 p.m.) and runs through April 2. Nineteen students came out to discuss the nuances of memoir writing and begin the exciting journey of leaving their legacy in words. To register, visit Spring Lake Library’s
website.
Red Bank Middle School
At the start of the month, we invited the 5th and 6th grade ESL students into the 8th grade AVID class for our weekly writing workshop. We read a few pieces from “I Wrote This For You,” by Iain S. Thomas, and then we moved into our own ekphrastic writing–writing in response to art–using different art pieces pulled from our PWN archives (art from Bridge Ink, the internet, MoMA, postcards from traveling, etc.) to inspire us. We loved how the 8th grade AVID class mentored the 5th and 6th graders, guiding them to first write lists of what they saw in the images before helping them develop their pieces into stories and poetry. The 7th graders also completed ekphrastic writing projects and we were blown away by how much creative energy flowed from their pens! We are beginning to wind down our generative writing as we get ready to select pieces to revise for our end-of-year anthologies and Writers Celebration!
Professional Development for Red Bank Staff
On February 3, we hosted a writing workshop for Red Bank teachers as part of their professional wellness day. We started off reading the poem “
New Year,” written by the 7th and 8th grade AVID students that was published in our online young adult literary magazine,
Bridge Ink, and then we moved into some generative writing using our “Wheel of Writing” for inspiration. Prompts included such phrases as “hold onto,” “let go of,” “my wish for you,” and “my wish for the world.” There were lots of discoveries and one teacher even remarked: “I can’t believe what came out. I never would have thought about that without those prompts.” We had such a great time working with these incredible teachers and look forward to more PD writing workshops in the future.
Teacher Ambassador Winter Workshop

Last Sunday, a group of our Teacher Ambassadors came together to write and share teaching ideas. We spent the morning discussing how to write personal essays involving an objective correlative–the object or event that takes on the burden of the emotion–and then explored objects in our own lives that we could craft pieces around. We also drafted our own
Tiny Teaching Stories (fewer than 100 words) to submit to
Education Week. After lunch, we shared books and resources that have inspired meaningful writing in our students. One teacher wrote us afterward: “Thanks for the great workshop on Sunday. You’ve created a wonderful space to write and share ideas.” We are looking forward to our 4th Annual Writing on the River: A Spring Retreat for Teachers, which will be held Sunday, March 29, at the Oyster Point Hotel from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Spots are limited so
register today!
21st Century Community Learning Center (Long Branch)
We are nearing the end of our second session of “The Picture Book Project” with the 3rd graders in the Long Branch 21st Century after-school program. The students have been exploring story ideas, enjoying mentor texts, and creating their own picture books. We can’t wait for them to share their stories!