The Story of These Story Workshops
It all started with fake flowers and a restroom. . .
Once upon a time, in the summer of 2017, writer Amy Grover stuck a dozen silver fake flowers in her hair in preparation for a silver-themed gala at the national conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in Los Angeles. Little did she know that those flowers were about to set her on an amazing journey!
In the hotel restroom at the party, her fanciful hairdo caught the attention of writer Shu-Hsien Ho, who then recognized Amy as a former classmate from their days at Pomona College. For the rest of the evening, Amy enjoyed a long, enthusiastic conversation with Shu-Hsien and her husband Royd Hatta.
Shu-Hsien and Royd told Amy about Beyond the Box Learning, their business as Writing Coaches for youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Amy spoke of her experience teaching in public schools in Japan and Oregon. They all agreed. . . young learners are amazing!
The three writers continued to stay in touch and connect at conferences, and every time they talked, the magic of their enthusiastic connection was still there! In 2019, Shu-Hsien and Royd trained Amy in their coaching methods, and they all began collaborating on a project to develop videoconferencing versions of workshops to inspire young writers.
Amy loved Beyond the Box’s meet-up workshop model so much that she has now created 54 (and counting!) of her own workshops based on that model, and has grouped them into series of six workshops each. She delights in young learners’ drawings as well as their stories, and is thrilled to be offering workshops that use a collaborative drawing process to generate amazing story possibilities!
Fun Facts About Amy
Amy loved writing stories as a child.
Amy has a strong connection to Japan.
Amy is an artist, too.
[Coming soon]
See more of Amy's art
