“More Than Just Art”: Stratford Students Express Themselves in Writers’ Room and New Book

Nashville, Tenn. (TN Tribune)-Stratford STEM Magnet High School students regularly put themselves out there in the school’s Writers’ Room, where teachers and mentors help them develop their voices as they share personal stories and insights through the written and spoken word. Now their work is out there in another form with the publication of a new anthology of the students’ writing. Unstuck in Time, published by Franklin-based Flowerpot Press, gathers pieces by about 20 Stratford students who have worked with their teachers and Southern Word, a Nashville-based nonprofit that places writing and music mentors in schools and community organizations. In 2022, Stratford and Southern Word opened Nashville’s first Writers’ Room next to the library on the East Nashville school’s second floor. It’s a place where students can go to write, collaborate, edit, perform, or just relax. “The Writers’ Room, which we founded in the early days coming back from COVID, has been a way to connect student writers with artists from our community,” said Elijah Ammen, an English teacher at Stratford. “It’s been a way for teenagers to process all the joy, sorrow, and complications of life in a supportive and encouraging environment.& “The poems, music, videos, photography, and more...