Creator School
Small, personalized classes;
highly qualified instructors
Courses 2025
Watercolor Doodling Spring Workshop Series
For Adults (Teachers, Parents, Anyone!)
Location: Zoom
Experience the creative energy of the season with our Spring Watercolor Doodling Series. As the air warms and the tulips bud, this five-week journey helps you let go of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and procrastination.
Each lesson invites you to explore watercolor doodling to let your creativity flow with the season's invigorating, transformative energy. This spring Watercolor Doodling Series offers all-new lessons, different from last fall's workshops. No drawing skills or experience with watercolors is needed.
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Instructor Renée Johnson is an experienced middle school English teacher, creative writing camp leader, private writing tutor, and certified Heartwork Journaling coach.
Four Sundays, starting on
March 23, 2025
9:00am–10:00am PST
College Essay
Camp
For Rising High School Seniors
Location: Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto
In a positive, collaborative environment, rising seniors will learn the principles of an effective college essay, study successful models, generate original ideas, draft essays, and receive meaningful feedback from their teacher and peers. They will end the week with less fear, more inspiration, and a solid draft of their Common Application. They will also have the opportunity to work on UC applications, supplements, and scholarship applications. Classes are capped at 16. This one-week course will be offered twice; once in June and once in August.
Instructor Justin Brown earned a BA in Modern Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. He has been a high school English teacher for nineteen years, with much experience coaching the college essay.
June 23–27, 2025 or
August 4–8, 2025
9:30am–12:30pm PST
Writing Matters
For Rising High School Students
Location: Zoom
This dynamic creative writing workshop invites adolescent writers to embark on an imaginative journey, exploring the art of writing through both individual and collaborative exercises. Through a deep, multilayered analysis of contemporary poetry and flash fiction, students will sharpen their ability to identify and apply sophisticated literary devices such as irony, ambiguity, and shifting points of view. The class encourages critical thinking and creative problem-solving, empowering writers to expand their perspectives and push the boundaries of their craft. Limited to just FOUR students, the course offers a personalized, intimate environment that will prepare students well for high school.
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Instructor Sam Prestianni has over thirty years of experience teaching creative writing, expository writing, music, and media literacy to students of all ages. He is a Bay Area writer, editor, teacher, musician, filmmaker, and founder of 21st Century Learning.
June 23–27, 2025
1:00pm–3:00pm PST
Write to Rise:
Spoken Word for Social Change
For High School Students
Location: Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto
Storytelling is meant to turn heads, win hearts, and open minds. This artistic safe space is intended for students to sharpen their poetry writing skills and contribute to the ever-changing dialogue on a topic that speaks to them. Such topics can include but are not limited to LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, mental health awareness, and women's issues. The session will conclude with an opportunity for students to present their projects and perform their poetry during our open mic showcase.
Author, artist, advocate, and poet River Sutaria and experienced Creator School instructor Kari Nygaard will co-facilitate this dynamic course.
July 28–Aug 1, 2025
1:30pm–4:30pm PST
Writing Your Memoir
in Flashes
For Adults (and Mature Teens)
Location: Zoom
This popular, four-week memoir class gets students started in the first hour with prompts and examples in "flashes" (5-15 minutes of writing time). To forestall the overwhelm of writing an entire memoir, this class focuses on creating beautiful small bits. The final (optional) half hour of the class is devoted to honing the previous week's work with gentle and encouraging revision suggestions based on the craft moves of great writers. We'll look at spectacular examples of flash memoir and consider questions such as "Where might I start? How could I end? How can I get readers interested?" The atmosphere is warm and accepting. This 1.5-hour course is offered on Zoom one night a week.
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Instructor Lita Kurth is a semi-retired college professor and the co-founder of San Jose's long-running Flash Fiction Forum, as well as the author of One Creative Writing Prompt A Day (Callisto Press, 2024). She has been published in numerous literary journals, received Pushcart and Best of the Net nominations, and is the winner of the Diana Woods Memorial Award for Creative Nonfiction.
Four Tuesdays, starting on
April 1, 2025
6:00pm–7:30pm PST
Surrealist
Writing Workshop
For Younger Middle School Students
Location: Zoom
Are you ready to explore the wild and wonderful world of surrealist writing? Let your imagination take flight! This workshop helps students tap into their limitless creativity with activities to develop their ability to play with words and ideas, fine-tune their craft through revision, analyze short mentor texts, present their work to an audience and learn how to give helpful feedback. The class is capped at only FOUR students, so writers will receive personal attention and build a strong sense of community.
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Instructor Sam Prestianni has over thirty years of experience teaching creative writing, expository writing, music, and media literacy to students of all ages. He is a Bay Area writer, editor, teacher, musician, filmmaker, and founder of 21st Century Learning.
June 23–27, 2025
10:30am–12:30pm PST
Writer's Playground
For Middle School Students
Location: Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto
In this popular middle school course, writers will play with a range of genres. Based on student interest, we may explore fiction, memoir, scriptwriting, poetry, and humor. We will also experiment with a variety of writing strategies, such as idea generation, dialogue, imagery, character development, foreshadowing and/or suspense. The class is capped at 16, so students will receive personal attention and build a strong sense of community.
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Instructor Kari Nygaard is an experienced local middle school English and Creative Writing teacher. She has taught a range of summer courses in creative writing, civic leadership, and design thinking.
July 7–11, 2025
9:30am–12:30pm PST
The Funny Pages
For Middle School Students
Location: Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto
What makes something funny? Is there a formula? We will study a number of texts for answers, then write original pieces (memoirs, skits, cartoons, stories, satire, and even poetry) that contain humorous elements. We'll improvise stories, explore our surroundings outside of the classroom, and end the week with a read-aloud celebration of our work. Join us for a week of creativity, risk-taking, and fun — and a whole lot of laughter.
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Instructor Kari Nygaard is an experienced local middle school English and Creative Writing teacher. She has taught a range of summer courses in creative writing, civic leadership, and design thinking.
July 28–Aug 1, 2025
9:30am–12:30pm PST
Staff
Kari Nygaard
Director and Instructor
Kari Nygaard has taught middle school English for twenty years. For six of those years she was the Instructional Lead of her department, and for another six years she mentored teachers who were new to the profession. She currently teaches English and Creative Writing at JLS Middle School in Palo Alto. She has also taught in a variety of summer programs for youth all over the Bay Area, developing courses in civic leadership, design thinking, creative writing, college essay writing, Italian, music, and even HIV/AIDS education (in Malawi, Africa, back in 2003). Kari received a BA in International Studies from Middlebury College and an MA in Educational Administration from Santa Clara University. She has worked with the San Jose Area Writing Project both as a participant and an instructor; she is a regular volunteer with Poetic Justice; and in 2015, she co-wrote a staff-student musical for her middle school.
Justin Brown
Instructor
Justin Brown has taught high school English for more than nineteen years. He currently works at Henry M. Gunn High School, where he teaches Film Literature, Advanced English (grades 9 and 10), and Honors English (grades 11 and 12). Justin received a BA in Modern Literature from UC Santa Cruz and an MA in Creating Writing from San Francisco State University. He has tutored many students in creative writing and the art of the college essay. In his spare time, Justin enjoys acting and has performed on stage in two Palo Alto Players productions: Death of a Salesman and The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Sam Prestianni
Instructor
Sam Prestianni is a widely published writer/editor (SFWeekly, New York Press, Jazziz, and elsewhere) and veteran Humanities educator who has taught writing for nearly three decades in Bay Area independent schools, including, most recently, Marin Horizon in Mill Valley. In 2021, he founded 21st Century Learning, an online platform that provides students of all ages uplifting education and personal growth experiences that transcend the traditional classroom. He's a Language Arts, Humanities, and SEL Development curriculum specialist. His individualized workshops and 1:1 courses include Creative Writing, Expository Writing, Songwriting, College/HS Application Essay Prep, Executive Function, and Media Literacy. A complete bio may be found here.
Renée Johnson
Instructor
Renée Johnson has a passion for helping others express themselves through writing. She moved to California from Massachusetts and graduated from California State University, Hayward with a BA in English and a focus in creative writing. She has been a full-time seventh and eighth grade English teacher in the Palo Alto Unified School District since 1998. She has experience teaching a variety of summer writing courses, including Future Author Camp, a writing camp for gifted creative writers. She also enjoys coaching adults and teens in a variety of writing projects, from personal statements to essays and speeches. Renée has worked with the San Jose Area Writing Project both as a participant and an instructor, and she is also a certified Heartwork Journaling coach.
River Sutaria
Instructor
River Sutaria (formerly known as Jharna) is a spoken-word performer and creative writer. They were introduced to slam poetry during their freshman year of high school and have been sharpening their craft ever since. River’s writing style is a kaleidoscope of haunting confessions, vivid imagery, and poetic metaphors. It is through sharing their intimate pieces of work that the twenty-four-year-old poet encourages others to use their voice. River is the author of three published books (it hurts to breathe, The Twinkle in Her Eyes, and Write It in Lipstick). Their writing has been showcased on multiple online platforms, including Palo Alto High School’s Verde Magazine, The Script (Foothill College’s Student News), Swim Swam Magazine, Bottlecap Press, Creative Communication, The Gay & Lesbian Review, American Swimming Magazine, Kings River Review, and the Coppell Gifted Association.
Lita Kurth
Instructor
Lita Kurth holds three Master's degrees (UC Berkeley, San Francisco State, and Pacific Lutheran) including an MFA in Creative Writing and has taught in numerous venues from ages eight to eighty, from Santa Clara University and De Anza College to arts nonprofits and jail inmates. The author of One Creative Writing Prompt a Day from Callisto Press, she has published fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, winning the Diana Woods Prize from Lunchticket. A multiple nominee for both Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes, she co-founded San Jose’s reading series, Flash Fiction Forum. She has been a featured reader for Peninsula Literary Society, Play on Words, and Poetry Center San Jose, and Poets n' Film for Cinequest, and organized readings and presentations at Filoli, the Euphrat Museum, and Working Class Studies conferences. Sample publications include Chicago Literati, Atticus Review, Rappahannock Review, Brain,Child, The Millions, and others.
Tarn Wilson
Founder
Tarn Wilson has been teaching creative writing to high school students and adults for over twenty years. She currently works at Gunn High School. She earned an MA in education from Stanford and an MFA in creative writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop, specializing in memoir and the personal essay. She is the author of the memoir The Slow Farm (2014), the award winning memoir-in-essays In Praise of Inadequate Gifts (2021), and 5-Minute Daily Writing Prompts: 501 Prompts to Unleash Your Creativity and Inspire You to Write (2022). Her essays have been published in numerous literary journals, including Brevity, The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, River Teeth, and The Sun, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.​​
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Christopher Bell
Co-Founder and I.T. Support
Chris Bell has been teaching math and computer science since 2006. He has taught courses intended for beginning students and advanced students alike, including Programming for Mobile Devices, which he created. Having received degrees from UC Davis and Notre Dame de Namur University, he has also dedicated a large part of his career to teaching teachers how to effectively integrate technology into their courses, speaking at conferences, providing professional development, and teaching at local colleges.