Pen and Tell It!
Grades 2-8
About Pen and Tell It!
The temperatures are slowly going under 90 degrees, pumpkin flavored everything is hitting the stores, and you can hear the high school marching bands practicing. That means it’s time for the fall season of Pen and Tell It! Jump into the season with our new classes that have a little bit for everyone. These stand-alone sessions allow you to try new ideas, writing skills, fascinating prompts, and more! If you register for two or more classes, you’ll receive 10% off! You can mix and match if you have more than one writer in your family, too.
Location
Classes take place at Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. If you have accessibility needs, please contact us before registering.
Have a Question?
Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org. To receive email updates about children's education programs, please use the sign up form at the very bottom of this page.
The deadline to register is the Friday before class. Registrations are non-refundable. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. If there’s a class you really want to take, don’t wait! For questions, contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
Fall 2026 Pen and Tell It!
2nd/3rd Grade Classes
Bird? Plane? No, YOUR Superhero!
Sunday, November 8 from 1:00-2:30 pm
Tuition: $20
Description: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s your very own superhero! You’ll learn how to build a superhero from scratch including character traits and design, and then you will create your own comic. Capes not required.
Teacher: Belle Machado (she/her) has a Master's in Teaching from Otterbein. When she isn't working in schools as a substitute teacher or teaching at Thurber House, she's working on writing fantasy novels, going to poetry open mics, and reading Agatha Christie.
Make it Pop!
Sunday, November 15 from 1:00-2:30 pm
Tuition: $20
Description: Who doesn't love a pop-up book? Now you get to try making your own. Bring your imagination and we'll show you how to bring it to life with pull-tabs, pop-up pictures, moving mechanisms, and more in this class. You'll have plenty of cool tools and stories to take home!
Teacher: Stacy Fabbre (she/her) is a writer and illustrator who spends most of her time with her nose in a book. She is a published picture book author and has been a Thurber House teacher for years!
Who Would Win Your Story?
Sunday, November 22 from 1:00-2:30 pm
Tuition: $20
Description: Dive into the fun world of the “Who Would Win?” book series! In class, we’ll briefly talk about the books and then it’s up to you. You’ll decide the competitors you want to use and then plan, write, and illustrate your own story. Who will win? As the author, you have all the power! (You do not have to know the book series to participate.)
Teacher: Andra Gillum (she/her) is a children's author, longtime Thurber teacher, and tutor. She writes books about her dogs Riley and Lucy in her series, Doggy Drama. You can check out all of their adventures on her website: https://www.doggydrama.com.
The deadline to register is the Friday before class. Registrations are non-refundable. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. If there’s a class you really want to take, don’t wait! For questions, contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
4th/5th Grade Classes
Toil and Trouble
Sunday, November 8 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: Flex your mischievous muscles in this diabolically interactive writing workshop. You will create a “trouble stew” for your character and write your characters into and maybe, only maybe, out of their situations. You’ll see why trouble is the engine that fuels a character, drives a story, and makes it interesting.
Teacher: Christina Dendy is a children's and educational author based in Dayton. She has spent the past 20 years writing and editing a variety of K-12 textbooks and her published works include the picture books The Wall and the Wild with illustrator Katie Rewse and Hide and Shh! She believes heartily in learning from one’s mistakes, loves just about anything that involves exploration, and regularly tumbles down rabbit holes of one sort or another.
Time Traveling Tales
Sunday, November 15 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: While we don’t have a flux capacitor to take us back in time, you’ll fire up your imagination to do the work. What challenges or changes will your character face in a different time period? Do they mess up the space time continuum? In this workshop, we will look at history and make it fun using our imaginations!
Teacher: Cindy Thomson (she/her) is known for her Celtic inspired noels and writes both fiction and nonfiction. She has published more than a dozen books! She is a frequent creative writing teacher at Thurber House, a genealogy researcher, and her love of history inspires everything she writes.
Shhh! Creating a Secret Society
Sunday, November 22 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: TOP SECRET: We'll practice collaborative storytelling as we work together to form our own Secret Society, invent new gadgets, and send Secret Agents on top secret missions! This message will self-destruct in 3...2...1... BOOM!
Teacher: Frankie Wiley (they/she) has been teaching creative writing at Thurber House for nearly a decade. When they're not writing or teaching, you can usually find them acting in or directing local theatre, playing Dungeons & Dragons, or cuddling with their cats.
The deadline to register is the Friday before class. Registrations are non-refundable. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. If there’s a class you really want to take, don’t wait! For questions, contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
6th/7th/8th Grade Classes
Founding Bothers
Sunday, November 8 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. These are names that have gone down in history...and put us to sleep. In this class, we'll fix it: create your own crazy founder (a tapdancing robot squid?) and then have a wild debate with everyone else's character to create the Future Constitution.
Teacher: Justin Martin (he/him) is a writer and educator who's skulked the halls of Thurber House since Green Day topped the charts. He enjoys hiding the deeply serious inside of the very silly - helping young writers wrestle with genuinely tricky ideas. He has a Bachelor's in English from Kenyon College, and a Master's in English Education from Vanderbilt University.
Poetry Palooza
Sunday, November 15 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: There are a million types of poetry (give or take a few) and you're going to jump into narrative poetry to create your own poetry-based stories. But wait, there's more! We'll break out our art supplies for you to craft a journal for your new stories.
Teacher: Holly Purvis (she/her) is currently a Senior at Ohio Northern University studying English Education, Creative Writing, and Dance. She is the Editor-in-Chief of her university's literary magazine, POLARIS. After getting to be a 4-6th grade summer camp counselor this past summer, Holly fell in love with Thurber House and is super excited to continue sharing her passion for writing!
How to Get Away with (Writing) Murder
Sunday, November 22 from 1:00-3:00 pm
Tuition: $25
Description: Have you ever wanted to write The Perfect Crime? You'll learn how to get away with (writing) murder, heists, detective stories, and more (and what is up with red herrings?). See if you can stump your friends and family with your perfect crime stories!
Teacher: Squiddy Kochensparger (they/them) is a school librarian by day, a crafter by afternoon, a queer theatre company co-founder by evening, and a Nancy Drew podcaster by night. Aside from all of that nonsense, they can be found drinking hot chocolate or playing Stardew Valley with WAY too many mods.
The deadline to register is the Friday before class. Registrations are non-refundable. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. If there’s a class you really want to take, don’t wait! For questions, contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
FAQ & Disclaimer
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You will receive an email order confirmation containing your registration information.
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On Jefferson Avenue: Easy street parking is available all along the Jefferson Avenue oval. Parking is free, with no time limit, on Sundays. Note: only the spots along the one-way oval are free; the spots along the two-way ends of Jefferson Avenue (near Broad Street and Long Street) are not free.
Off N. 11th Street (behind Thurber House): Free visitor parking is available in the small lot directly behind Thurber House, accessible off N. 11th Street and located here. There is no time limit as long as you are visiting Thurber House. All other parking lots do not belong to Thurber House and you may be towed.
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We encourage the involvement of all students and will do our best to make accommodations. Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org to discuss any accessibility needs.
The first floor of Thurber Center is handicap/wheelchair accessible, including the first floor restrooms.
How to reach the wheelchair ramps:
If you park on Jefferson Avenue: There is a slight curb (some wheelchairs can navigate this). The closest “ramp” cut is the entrance to the large parking lot on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Long Street (here).
Thurber Center wheelchair ramp: Follow the sidewalk through the Thurber Center front gate. Take the sidewalk around the porch on the right side of the building. The entrance to the wheelchair ramp will appear on your left, past the porch.
If you park in the Thurber House rear parking lot: Follow the sidewalk between the handicap parking signs (here). The sidewalk will take you around the north side of our multipurpose building, Thurber Center.
Thurber Center wheelchair ramp: The ramp will appear on your right and leads up to the front porch.
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All registrations are final and non-refundable.
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Disclaimer: Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by event and program speakers in all mediums are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Thurber House, its affiliates, or its staff/board.
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Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org. To receive email updates about children's education programs, please use the sign up form at the very bottom of this page.
