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New JoCoHistory Blog

Johnson County’s earliest history is hazy at best. When the first white settlers reached the area, the Kaw were living to the North and Northwest, and the Osage were living to the South. The Native American population of Johnson County was nomadic and small. The white settlers arrived around 1700. They were French traders ascending the Missouri and its smaller tributaries such as “la Riviere de l’Eau Bleu” – the Blue River. The French phase of this region’s history is only now beginning to receive attention. Read the full article on the JoCoHistory blog »

August 1, 2023 Primary Election

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For many years, Johnson County Library has provided popular programs for teen and adult writers. Now there’s a supportive club to give younger writers a creative outlet as well.

The Scribbler Society is a new program geared for youth ages 10-14, offered once a month at Antioch Library. It is led by Heather Miller, a youth information specialist at Antioch, and Cristy Henggeler, a youth information specialist at the Blue Valley branch. Both are enthusiastic writers in their own right who wanted to encourage young people to find their voices through a variety of fun activities in a collaborative setting.

“I’m a writer myself so I wanted to bring that love of writing to kids,” said Miller, who enjoys writing fiction, including teen novels.

Henggeler has two kids, ages 5 and 8, and started working at Blue Valley last June. She has an English degree and writes novels in her spare time. She loves working with young patrons and was eager to join Miller in this new program, which was offered monthly this past spring and summer. The first few sessions featured mostly home-schooled kids.

The program is taking a break in August before resuming in the fall with events at Antioch, Blue Valley and Central Resource Libraries.

“It’s really fun to hear what the kids are working on,” Henggeler said. “It’s inspiring to be around them.” 

For the first meeting in February just one participant showed up, so Miller gave her one-on-one coaching. That turned out to be really productive.

“I engaged with her,” Miller recalled of the participant, who had bought a yard sale typewriter and used it to start writing a story. “She was stuck on one part. I helped her through that. She seemed to get a lot out of it.”

Eight participants showed up in March and April. Miller and Henggeler provided a workbook, described different writing genres, and talked about incorporating characters into story. A writing exercise gave a prompt for the start of a story. The young writers were bursting with ideas.

At the April meeting, they created “mood boards,” using photos from old magazines.

“We almost lost track of time because everybody was so excited to be working on their mood boards and having fun with that,” Henggeler said.

In May, three participants showed up and spent the session figuring out the backgrounds and personalities of characters for their stories. They encouraged each other and giggled as they brainstormed suggestions. 

One participant, Jack, 11, said he’s been drawing and writing a series of comic book stories about a superhero. Morraine, 9, brought notebooks in which she was working on two different stories. Kennedy, 13, said she does a lot of creative writing and the program has been worthwhile.

“We learn a lot about developing our stories,” she said.

This is educational, but it isn’t academic writing, and the program doesn’t feel like schoolwork. One parent emailed Miller to say her daughter really enjoyed the sessions.

Miller and Henggeler are delighted to offer this new program benefiting older elementary and middle-school patrons. The young people are encouraged to submit work for the Library’s writing contests.

It’s rewarding, Henggeler said, to share this passion with kids, “and see them excited about their ideas and just kind of bringing in something creative to their day that brings them joy.”

Miller agreed. “We want to keep them engaged with the Library and I think this is a great way to do it,” she said. “Giving them an outlet for all those ideas they have really makes me happy.”