(January 6th, 2026)

I’ve tried to blog countless times since school started this fall, and well, if I am honest, I’ve felt overwhelmed ever since Charlie Kirk’s tragic death.  There still are no words.  No matter what I have to say, all I could think of is that it could potentially add to the hate, and that would never be my intention.  It isn’t that I didn’t or don’t have anything to say.  No.  Quite the opposite.  I have so much to say that I didn’t know where to begin.  Sometimes, it just comes to you.  Sometimes, you just have to start again.

On rare days as a teacher you may have small wins.  Sometimes a lesson goes particularly well; it may finally “click” for that student you’ve been worried about all school year.  A small victory in the grand scheme of things, but invaluable when you truly care.  It is the same with writing.  There are times where you just have to get it down before it is gone forever.  It may not be perfect, but there is a kernel of truth in there somewhere.  On the rarest of rare occasions, both happen on the same day within the hour.  That was my day today, but first, a little background.

My dream of creating a creative writing club for my students may have started during my years teaching middle school at St. Mike’s, but I had no idea where it would lead.  At St. Mike’s, my teacher bestie Dorri and I teamed up to form a group for students grades 3-8 interested in writing.  We were small but mighty – and we even survived a pandemic.  I wish others could have witnessed the patience that my middle schoolers had with Dorri’s budding 3rd grade authors.  Dorri and I may no longer teach together, but we still bring up the magic that happened during writing club.  In fact, this fall, I learned that one of my former students, one of those patient middle schoolers now a high school senior, will soon have a short story published in an anthology.  He couldn’t be more deserving or have a brighter future.

Last year, my first year as a full-fledged teacher at Michigan Virtual Charter Academy (MVCA) teaching 10th grade high school English, I knew that I wanted to try again.  I wanted to create a creative writing club for our high school.  Throughout the school year, we became a tight knit group of writers who wholeheartedly supported one another.  I hated to see it end. This year, I didn’t know if I could create that atmosphere twice.

Fortunately, I did.  Even though I have an almost entirely new group of students this year, they are just as supportive and passionate about writing.  Above all, they are wonderful writers.  In fact, in addition to sharing what I wrote today during our session, I wish I could share some of my students’ work as well.  They are far more talented than I ever was during my high school years.  It is beautiful to see and gives me so much hope for the future.  Gen Z – and what I’ve witnessed of Gen Alpha – are far more compassionate and understanding than the Gen Xers, Xennials, and Millennials I grew up with.  They seem to grasp just how much damage mere words can do.  They also understand that there is more to life than work, image, and material things.

So, I decided to share with you what I wrote today in the span of twenty minutes.  It is not perfect, but it is a start.  There is something there.  In that same twenty minutes, one of my students created a piece so wonderful that it is begging to be shared.  I am hoping to get at least a paragraph of her work in the yearbook. Yes, 2026 is off to a great start. Today was a good day.

Why I Write …

I write to not be forgotten.

I write to calm the storm and slow down time.

I write to express and gather my thoughts and ideas.

I write to make sense of the chaos trying to drown me.

To create order out of chaos.

I write to explain the inexplicable.

I write to support and inspire others.

I write to find meaning where there is none.

I write to remember what shouldn’t be forgotten.

To capture what could be lost, what shouldn’t be lost.

I write to learn and study.

I write to make connections and share with others.

I write to expand my understanding of everything around me.

I write to learn how to teach others to write, wonder, and explore.

To create, to connect, to describe.