Here's a piece taken from a
Summer 2010 Newsletter,
Speaking of Kids, put out by the
Youth Service Bureau in State College, Pennsylvania. YSB appears to be a non-profit, community based organization with several different programs for youth at risk.
Lucrezia Albegiani, one of the runaways noted in the OP
article, participated in one of these programs prior to being sent to Ridge Creek.
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"Your Life is a Story, So Write it Up"
By: Olivia Scoggins, Vicki Shivery, Starr Tipton, and Lucrezia AlbegianiLaughs. That's what you'll hear if you walk into a Strange Getaway Writers Meeting. We are a group of teens from Bellefonte and State College and three graduate students in Creative Writing at Penn State who come together at the YSB Youth Shelter to write stories, rants and poetry.
After meeting for almost a year, we have decided that some people are dancers, some are painters and some are Strange Getaway Writers. Every so often, we'll do a group write where we each put down a few sentences of a story. Then, our stories go around the room till everyone adds something. Usually some of us shout out, "Oh I can't believe you made her do that!" and "What am I going to do now?" In this way, we've written stories about every subject you can imagine and some you can't!
Recently we interviewed each other about why we write and learned the following.
Olivia Scoggins, a State College High senior used to write poems "a lot, a lot, a lot", but our group is now one of the few times she has to write. "With choir practice, AASG meetings and a job at Burger King, I just don't have the time". She typically rants when she writes but she likes trying out different styles too. She's heading to Bloomsburg University this summer.
Vicki Shivery, an eighth grader at Bellefonte Middle School, started writing poems when she was seven. She says, "Writers' group has helped me expand my horizons on topics of writing and ways to write" and that we give her something to look forward to.
Starr Tipton, another State College High senior also started writing at a young age. She uses poetry to express anger, love and happiness. Starr also like writing character sketches. A recent story of hers was about a Trekkie obsessed with a teddy bear.
Lucrezia Albegiani, a State College High junior started writing at thirteen. She loves to journal and write poetry. Her favorite part of writing is that she gets to explain how she feels and no one has to see it.
The three brave souls who started the group make it fun. After talking with former graduate students about their experience leading a group for teens, Curran Altschul, Nick Bascome and Rachel Bara started making some phone calls to find out if there was interest in State College. When asked why she does it, Bara said, "I like experimenting with words alongside a younger crowd and these teens are edgy."
As Strange Getaway Writers we enjoy saying what we want without being judged. When asked about our name, a newcomer said, "I think Strange Getaway Writers like to find ways to escape. They share thoughts and feelings not necessarily to escape reality, but in order to confront it. That is where the word strange comes in." To join Strange Getaway Writers send an email to us at
psuwritersgroup@gmail.com.
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