Imaginative writing is an elective taught by Mr. Flynn and Mr. Forbes for any high schooler at Shadow Ridge. This class is all about writing, there’s not any specific group of writing that students do in that class, it’s a whole variety of things.

Some of the assignments consist of poetry, stories, quick writes, posters, and even sometimes coloring. This class allows students to show their creative side and have fun while also receiving a credit for an elective.

Junior Alessia Greene says, “We have to do a lot of short stories with different guidelines, making it more challenging, we also do a lot of different types of poetry.” She continued to say, “I like this class even if it’s a lot of work. It allows me to spend time working on my creative side while also getting a class credit.”

Shadow didn’t always have this class but when the English teachers were asked if they would like to teach an imaginative writing class, Mr. Flynn and Mr. Forbes were quick to take the opportunity to teach these classes.

Mr. Flynn says “We didn’t always have Imaginative Writing here at Shadow. The English teachers were asked if anyone would like to take on teaching a creative writing class. As someone who has always loved to write, I wrote my first story in 5th or 6th grade, I immediately jumped at the opportunity.”

When he first started teaching these classes, he had no curriculum to follow so he used what he had learned when he was a student at Rhode Island College. Flynn has no regrets teaching this class, in fact he enjoys it. 

Flynn says, “I enjoy teaching the class because it allows me to show the students all the benefits of learning to write with imagination. Schools put so much into academic writing, but tend to forget that writing creatively is just as important. The world needs more people who think outside the box and I’d like to think that Imaginative Writing helps nurture those individuals.” He then stated, “What I like most about teaching this class is being able to see the progression of student writing throughout the year, watching students step out of their comfort zones.”

This class is a comfortable environment for Shadow Ridge students to try new things with their writing skills and improve throughout the year. There are 3 classes of Imaginative Writing this year, 2 are taught by Mr. Flynn and 1 by Mr Forbes. 

Flynn says, “This year the classes are fairly small, around 20 or so. This is good though because it allows me to work with more of the students individually.”

If students need an elective idea or just like writing, Imaginative Writing is available to all Shadow students.