2026 Camp Speakers
INKspire Creative Camps
Creativity Lifts Us Up!
From winged penciils to stories of the winged-horse Pegasus to flowers popping up to yeast making fluffy biscuits, our RISE! theme will motivate your kids to love all things creative. One pencil at a time. Browse our INKthology and photo pages for camp to come alive.
Huge thanks to one of our INKspired creative campers Ellen Wheeler. She and her mother Jamie ran our “I Gave Gratitude” table at a recent program with the Harstad Fine Arts Series. We love partnering with Harstad throughout the year. This wonderful organization brings fabulous free concerts to Central Kentucky.
On April 19, the internationally known piano duo of Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt performed an incredible program of four hand piano music. During intermission and after the concert, guests visited our gratitude table and wrote brief notes of appreciation to the artists.
Ellen and her mother tied up the index cards of thanks with a ribbon to make a gratitude gift. Ellen presented the notes to Dana and Gary (photo above). Their response was equally grateful. Gary looked at the cards and said,
"I've NEVER seen something as wonderful as this!"
An atmosphere of gratitude is foundational for our nonprofit, and for all of our creative experiences. Come be part of something wonderful. We welcome volunteers for our gratitude tables.
Contact our Executive Director if you're interested in giving gratitude at your next event.
Celebrate April as
National Poetry
Month
Read the poetry of 70 amazing young women
in Kentucky—our up and coming poets
Plus, read stories of seven little-known Kentucky women who
influenced the world for good.
Never look at a pencil the same way.
In 240 pages, A Pencil Grows in Kentucky weaves together listening lessons, creative writing lessons, and true stories of amazing Appalachian women of Kentucky. Best of all, the book features the powerful poetry of 70 young women from our Appalachia Girl Dreaming workshop.
​
An inspiring read for dreamers of all ages.
$14.95​​​
Jacqueline happily coordinates book club discussions via Zoom at no charge! Email her to set up a date: jacqueline@whywrite.org
Special thanks to Shade Hatmaker, an artist from Kentucky Appalachia who created a gorgeous cover for our book.
A Pencil Grows in the News
Thanks to Bob Hill, columnist for the Courier-Journal, for his great story about our writing nonprofit and the publication of our new book A Pencil Grows in Kentucky.
