INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Pam Proctor, creator of The Teen Writers Workshop, calls it the “You’ve Got Talent” for writers only there are no Simon Cowells.
High school students get the chance Saturday to immerse themselves in poetry-writing and being a poet already isn’t a prerequisite.
For college admission, a multitude of careers, and life, teens need to write.
That’s why Proctor, president of College Application Consultants, a former senior editor/writer for “Parade” magazine, and author of eight books joined with Charlotte Terry, Charlotte Terry Real Estate Group of Alex MacWilliam, to create the Teen Writing Workshop in 2000.
Presenting their 12th annual teen writing event, “Taming the Wild Mind,” at the Environmental Learning Center will be Michael Hettich, English professor at Miami- Dade College.
Hettich will be introduced by friend and fellow poet, artist and rancher, Sean Sexton.
“Hettich is very down to earth,” says Proctor. “He knows how to teach students to take their daily lives and turn them into creative work.”
Hettich’s most recent book of poetry, “Like Happiness” was published last fall by Anhinga Press; he has won numerous awards.
“What students will learn in this workshop is beyond poetry,” says Proctor. She believes that tapping into a teen’s creativity helps them write successful essays for college applications among other things.
“Teen Writers Workshop is about inspiring writers and non-writers alike to produce original work and share it in a nonthreatening environment,” Proctor says.
Collaborating with the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation and Terry, Proctor created and coordinates the series of free half-day seminars involving teens with professional novelists, poets, playwrights, song and screenplay writers, journalists, and nonfiction book writers.
Proctor’s most recent book is “The College Hook, Packaging Yourself to Win the College Admissions Game.”
“Newsweek” and “The New York Times” have quoted her as an expert on college admissions.
Proctor knows writing is an essential part of the application process.
She also knows that not every teen wants to be indoors on a Saturday in August.
She remembers two brothers who attended a workshop on creativity led by local children’s author, Leslie McGuirk.
“They came in kicking and screaming, but they bought into it,” she says.
Terry is surprised and encouraged by how many students attend voluntarily to improve writing.
Estimating conservatively, she says the workshops have reached more than 1,400 students from six counties.
The top five percent of them attend multiple workshops. Attending three or more and submitting a finished a piece of writing earns teens a writing fellow award, which is useful on one’s college application.
Proctor insists that opportunities are out there for teens.
Brooke Willis, a 2009 Saint Edward’s graduate, published a history paper in “The Concord Review.”
Area high schools love the workshops. For two years in a row, the Teen Writers Workshop presented workshops in college essay writing.
More than 400 teens participated in two workshops led by Lisa Zahner, now a reporter for Vero Beach Media 32963. “Debbie Herrick at the Charter School made it mandatory for her 165 seniors,” Proctor says.
Working on a shoestring, the Teen Writers Workshop relies on funding from organizations and individuals.
In 2001 it received $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“We were one of six nonprofits in Florida receiving grants that year,” says Proctor.
She would love to offer more workshop experiences.
“I’d love to do a college essay workshop and a creative writing workshop every year,” she says. “Maybe we’ll inspire the next T.S. Elliott, John Steinbeck or Stephen King,” says Terry.
For more information, call 772-569-6718 or contact lrjfdtn@gmail.com.