Hiemstra starts LPHS’ first Creative Writing Club

LPHS junior, Bella Hiemstra, is on the “write” track in her high school career after starting LPHS’s first Creative Writing Club. 

Hiemstra had been writing creatively for a long time, but she found her opening when she was doing weekly journals for Ms. Scanlin’s English class. In a joke made towards Scanlin, Hiemstra mentioned that they should create a Creative Writing Club, but Scanlin had mentioned that it would be a good idea to start one. Though they started talking about creating the club back in October, the first meeting didn’t happen until December. 

The club started off with a bang, with more than 30 people signing up for the club. Now, there is a steady stream of about 15 people that attend each meeting. Despite the club having meetings for the past month, they are still accepting new members. 

“It’s open to everyone, and you don’t have to write anything if you just want to listen. I think it’s a really good club to create a little community and make friends. Everyone there is super nice. Also, there’s snacks. That drew a couple people in. I mentioned there were granola bars,” Hiemstra said. 

The meetings are every Wednesday after school in Scanlin’s room, J.20. They also have meetings every other Friday during SRT. 

In the future, Hiemstra plans to build a collage with all of the pieces that were written for the club and put a copy of it in the school library to keep records of what the Creative Writing Club has done. She also hopes that this club will be her legacy after she leaves LaPorte High School next year.

“I’ve worked really hard to get this club started, and my only hope is to get this club running at full speed next year once it’s established. I want to create a legacy so when I come back for my reunion ten years from now it’s still here. I want to impact this school, and I think this is it,” Hiemstra said.