1st Creative Nonfiction Workshop: Molding Extraordinary Young Writers for Greatness

On November 16, 2024, the 1st Creative Nonfiction Workshop for Senior High School was held for Grade 12 HUMSS/GAs students. The event aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn from creative nonfiction experts in order to create refined works worthy of submission to national workshops and future publications. 

This event is a part of the students’ Creative Nonfiction Course under the guidance of course instructor, Mr. Jenno Roquero. Expert writers, namely: Ms. May Tobias-Papa, Mr. John Punzal, and Ms. Hannah M. Pabalan, have been invited as panelists to critique the students’ work.

Six (6) students from the Grade 12 HUMSS/GAs strand were chosen to submit and present their creative nonfiction pieces to the workshop. The submitted works were Hailey Miranda’s “I See You”, Jaimee Lim’s “The Marionette Dancer”, Paubielle Zoleta’s “Favorite Crime”, Raul Sande’s “Ako’y Nakauwi Na”, Hawi Abadilla’s “Childhood of Muted and Vibrant Colors”, and Sofia Pascual’s “Boypop”. For each work, one panelist was assigned to be the head panelist, while the remaining panelists were to provide additional comments and suggestions.

The workshop took place in the Grade 12 - St. Mark classroom, with the panelists present via Zoom meeting. Having begun at 8:00 AM, an opening prayer was led by Stacey Sanchez and the opening remarks by Mr. Jenno Roquero. The flow for each story critique included a 5-minute story presentation by the chosen students, 20 minutes of critiquing from the chosen head panelist, 20 minutes of critiquing from the other panelists, and a 5-minute response from the chosen student. Afterwards, the workshop concluded with the panelists providing general feedback and writing tips to the students for future projects, followed by the closing remarks led by Hailey Miranda and a closing prayer by Yzabella Lontoc. 

“It was a very worthwhile experience, even just listening to comments about my peers' creativity and skill was fulfilling. It felt like a true celebration of art through the sharing of knowledge and insight that will truly be remembered. I hope future batches can experience this same impactful and inspiring workshop.” - Yzabella Lontoc, Grade 12 HUMSS student.

“The workshop itself was great because we were able to know from actual

professionals what to do for our work to be better.”

- Sofia Pascual, selected Grade 12 HUMSS student writer.

The 1st Creative Nonfiction Workshop for Senior High School had been held to provide students with the ability to develop their writing skills with the aid of professional writers. Pioneered by the Grade 12 HUMSS/GAs students, they had truly been able to gain useful insights and training to further improve their skills as writers by fostering self-expression, reflection, and critical thinking to prepare them for college-level writing and real-world applications.