The Creative Writing Club at West Chicago Community High School hosted its annual senior send-off on May 6, celebrating graduating writers while also recognizing students who earned awards at the Upstate Eight Literary Festival.

Club sponsors Tara Deleon and Merrick Ramza said the event was designed to honor students’ creativity, growth, and contributions before graduation. The celebration included food, games, dancing and reflections on the impact seniors had on the club throughout their four years at WEGO. The tradition began before COVID-19 and has continued each spring as a way to recognize graduating members.

“Our Creative Writing Club senior send-off is an annual tradition we keep alive every May,” club adviser Tara Deleon said. “We want them to know their legacy here at WeGo matters.”

The club also celebrated a successful showing at the Upstate Eight Literary Festival. Senior Ethan Godwin earned Critic’s Choice, the festival’s highest poetry honor, out of approximately 170 entries. Senior Sam Jaloway earned a third-place medal for poetry and recognition for two separate submissions, while senior Abby Przybyla received an honorable mention certificate for poetry. Junior Leyda Vara earned an honorable mention in screenplay/drama, marking West Chicago’s first recognition in that category. Senior Gavin Roster also earned second place in short story/creative nonfiction for a submission judges reportedly noted stood out among roughly 80 entries.

“For me, Creative Writing has been community,” senior Achyls Josephus said. “I’ve gotten to meet amazing people all four years and me and my peers were able to connect and inspire each other through our writing.”

Students and advisers said the club provides a supportive environment where members can grow creatively and personally.

“What I would say is join this club because it’s a great way to meet new people and some of my closest friends are from Creative Writing,” senior Abby Przybyla said. “And, of course, the teachers are amazing who run the club.”

Senior Gavin Roster said his confidence and willingness to experiment with writing increased as he became more comfortable sharing personal work with the group.

“As I got to know people in the club more — and their eccentricities — I eventually got more personal,” Roster said. “I felt more confident in what I wrote and I was willing to experiment.”

“Students need the opportunity to celebrate their writing because it is a means for them to express their teenage personhood before becoming an adult,” adviser Merrick Ramza said. “The more that students can explore their identity and perspectives through creative writing, the more empathy they can access and beauty they can identify in the world that awaits them outside of WEGO’s doors.”