Creation Continues Outside the Classroom

Rebecca Woolfrey
From oral presentations, insightful essays, science lab discoveries, and more, Grier students accomplish greatness inside the classroom every day.
For many of these students, learning and creating extend beyond the classroom. Through creative writing, artwork, and audio recordings, Grier students are producing thoughtful pieces of self-expression.  

To celebrate Grier students’ extracurricular creations, let’s look at writers, visual artists, and podcasters.   


WRITERS
 

Fantasy fiction readers may delight to learn that Grier tenth grade student Starlight recently made copies of their novella The Greyscale Queen available for purchase on Amazon. The novella tells the story of Princess Poppy, content in her perfect, purple-toned kingdom until the beautiful-eyed members of the population begin mysteriously disappearing. Poppy must leave the comfort of home to save her people. Starlight says it took about one year of writing, editing, and rewriting to produce a version worthy of publishing. This is quite a feat! Congratulations! 

A team of student journalists organized a newspaper club to create and publish school newsletters titled Grier on the Go! that feature pieces on a wide variety of topics, including global issues, popular culture, cultural events, and the experiences of Grier students. English teacher Ms. Natalie Ondrey is the club advisor.

The debut issue of Grier on the Go! paid special tribute to Black History Month and featured a cover story by Zainab about the origins and meaning of the month and included a personal perspective from a Grier student of color. Reagan contributed a piece about Aisha Bowe, whose software company StemBoard is a certified Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business. Additionally, the newsletter included articles on the resurgence of early-2000s fashion, the Mexican celebration Dia de los Muertos, an analysis of the geopolitics of Covid-19, a look at Russia and the Ukraine, and advice on self-care.

Members of this club include writer and editor Zainab; writers Madeleine, Gloria, Reagan, Natalie; and graphic editor Estella. The Grier community looks forward to more insightful content from this club!
 

VISUAL ARTISTS

Art teacher, Ms. Ashleigh Stangel says many of her students are incredibly talented artists that create art both in and outside of class. One of her AP Art students, Nicole, has cultivated a following on TikTok where she publishes her digital illustration character art and videos showing her process. 

AP Art student Hannah creates artwork using a variety of media but says oil paint and digital are her preferred medium. She focuses mostly on conceptual portraiture and plans to study reconstructive plastic surgery, wherein which she will use a medical application of her artistic inclinations.

Along with their fellow classmates, Hannah and Nicole show great talent and dedication as they create stunning works of art. 
 

PODCASTERS

Give your ears a treat by tuning into the Grier Podcast, a show created by Grier students, produced by AV teacher Mr. Bryan Beckel and with new episodes directed by history teacher and podcaster Mr. Steven Packnick. After a pause, the show has resumed with a new series “With Us” where listeners learn about hosts Simone and T’aja and life at Grier. In "Boarding with Us,” Paola joins T’aja and Simone to discuss what it is like to live, work, and play at Grier. The trio return with “Dancing with Us,” a collection of stories about life as a Grier dancer. Thank you for giving us a peek into your authentic lives at Grier, Simone, T'aja, and Paola!

Podcasting, or creating talk radio shows that can be streamed and downloaded by users on demand is a technology that has existed for over a decade, yet it continues to grow in popularity. According to Nielsen and Edison Research, there are 30 million podcasts available and 16 million people in the US identify as “avid fans” of podcasts. With the assistance of Grier’s faculty podcast producers, any Grier student can create episodes of the Grier Podcast.  
 

EXPERIENCE 

Read The Greyscale Queen by Starlight, available on Amazon.com   
 
See the work of Grier artist Nicole xuversa on TikTok
 
Listen to The Grier Podcast  

Image credits: RW, Nicole @xuversa, and The Grier Podcast
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Grier School

2522 Grier School Rd. | P.O. Box 308; Birmingham, PA 16686-0308
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177