{"id":362757,"date":"2026-08-04T19:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362757\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:44:07","slug":"volunteer-helps-young-writers-through-orlando-writing-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362757\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer helps young writers through Orlando writing camp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 An Orlando-area volunteer is helping inspire the next generation of storytellers through a unique summer camp that encourages students to express themselves through creative writing. Ethan Robertson, a volunteer creative writing coach with <a href=\"https:\/\/page15.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Page 15, an Orlando nonprofit that gives students the opportunity to write and publish their own original stories<\/a> in just a few days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, just the idea of Page 15, a summer camp where kids can come and really cultivate their creative writing, is the type of thing I wish I had when I was a kid,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n<p>Robertson\u2019s journey with Page 15 began as a paid internship before he returned as a volunteer, dedicating his time to helping young writers build confidence and develop their creativity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are consistent. Students are allowed to explore and write about whatever they like, and they are always celebrated for that writing,\u201d Page 15 Programs Manager Alexandra Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>Page 15&#8217;s small staff requires the organization to rely heavily on volunteers to bring its vision to life, Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re a small but mighty group here at Page 15, so we rely a lot on our volunteers to help us execute the vision, and they provide a lot of really good experience, too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Smith added that Robertson\u2019s background in animation and illustration gives students another creative outlet while reinforcing the storytelling skills they develop through writing. <\/p>\n<p>Former campers-turned-volunteer-coaches Izzy and Ellie Poissant said the supportive environment at Page 15 made a lasting impact on them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a very anxious person, so seeing the teachers were very nice, I just felt calm and relaxed,\u201d Izzy said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI immediately felt relaxed, especially compared to the school environment, where everything feels high-stakes,\u201d Ellie added. \u201cBeing in a calm environment where you get to do something you love is so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Robertson, volunteering has been just as rewarding as it has been for the students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really invigorates me to be more spontaneous and more confident in my own ideas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Through the support of volunteers like Robertson, Page 15 continues to give young writers a safe space to discover their voices, build confidence and take pride in stories that are uniquely their own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 An Orlando-area volunteer is helping inspire the next generation of storytellers through a unique summer&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28293,54687,115,139,141,140,835],"class_list":["post-362757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-curtis-mccloud","tag-everyday-heroes","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}