If you happened to have heard a lot of “Avasts!” and “Shiver Me Timbers” type cries across Peachtree City a few days ago, fear not! It was coming from the offices of Gallopade International on Shakerag Hill where a Big Pencil PIRATE Writing Workshop was in progress. “Parents are crucially concerned about their children learning to write well,” says Captain Carole Marsh. “We had kids from Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Newnan, as well as Sandy Springs, Cummings, Gwinnett County, and beyond, all eager to learn to communicate powerfully through the written word. Marsh used her new Writing Tree curriculum during the workshop, which also included a pirate scavenger hunt, pirate Powerpoint presentations, pirate ship cookies, Blackbeard’s Gunpowder Punch, and good old hardtack for treats. Workshop participants went home with books they had written under Ms. Marsh’s guidance—now ready to tackle writing—and the walk-the-plank writing test later in the year.  “Avast, me hearties, it was fun!” said one student.  

Carole Marsh is a local author who writes the popular Carole Marsh “Real Kids, Real Places” Mysteries. Gallopade is an international children’s publishing concern, which publishes a widely used Georgia social studies curriculum, among thousands of other titles. To learn about future workshops for kids and adults, go to www.bigpencilwritingworkshops.com. And, check out my new blog at http://carolemarshblog.blogspot.com/.