In a tiny town known as Rockshore, a body washes up on shore, and all the citizens of the town are suspects. In a town far north of Rockshore known as Whittier, Alaska, the townspeople are busy preparing for the Winter Festival where life and death decisions will be made, and their fates lie in the hands of the town Elders. Who will stay, and who will be kicked out into the Wilderness never to be seen again? 

Students in Meredith Teuber’s Semester 1 and 2 Mundelein High School Creative Writing courses have been very busy creating these towns. Students worked together to brainstorm towns and select one town to build and create together. They created a town map, buildings, and characters that inhabit and/or work in those buildings.  Each character has a separate story. According to Teuber, this project strengthens student’s narrative writing skills, problem-solving skills, and provides them an opportunity to work together to design a product for a greater audience. See how their lives intertwine and visit their town websites. 

Town of Rockshore Link

Whittier, Alaska Link

Teuber cites students for their inspiration, collaboration, willingness to take risks, and for their overall dedication to building their town stories.  In addition, Teuber would like to thank Hope Babowice (Instructional Aide) and Stacey Klemstein (Instructional Aide) for all their assistance in helping these students through the entire process of this project. “This is definitely a work of heart and teamwork,” Teuber remarked.

Teuber would also like to thank Seth MacLowry, a teacher of Creative Writing at Maine West High School “who shared this town project with a young and inspired teacher many moons ago. We hope you enjoy your visit to these towns.,” she concluded.