GREENFIELD — Brady Basso darted around the yard, a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other.
He paused next to some dried flowers in the landscaping, and he shouted over to his friends to come have a look. He wondered aloud as the cogs of his imagination turned. What could these be?
Eight-year-old Brady was one of a dozen kids who participated in a creative writing camp held this week at the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home in Greenfield.
Chadwick Gillenwater — known to his students as Professor Watermelon — led the class, teaching the youngsters the art of storytelling and encouraging them to use their imaginations to find magic in the world around them.
Gillenwater’s kid-focused creative writing class was the first of its kind held at the old home of the Hoosier poet.
Gillenwater set up a classroom in Lisabuth Ann’s Kitchen, where he taught youngsters about story structure, about plot and setting and conflict. They used the garden and the artifacts inside the home as inspiration, twisted them to fit into the worlds they dreamed up.
Gillenwater watched with a grin on his face as the kids rushed around the garden one afternoon this week, looking at the plants and flowers and trees.
Gillenwater had a career as a school librarian when he started writing children’s books. Now, he travels the country teaching creative writing classes for kids.
It seemed fitting, he said, bringing young students to the place where Indiana’s most famous writer got his start. He’s held similar creative writing classes at the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home on Lockerbie Street in Indianapolis.
In a world where science, technology, engineering and math — commonly referred to as STEM — reigns supreme in classrooms, it’s important to teach kids to use their creativity, Gillenwater said.
In a way, they complete each other, he said; students can use what they’ve learned in their science classes to enhance their storytelling.
He pointed to L. Frank Baum, author of “The Wizard of Oz” as an example. Baum would have needed to know a lot about tornadoes before he could write about Dorothy being swept away from Kansas to Oz by a twister.
That idea was exciting for young Brady, he said. As he prepares to go back to school next week, he thinks he’ll be more eager to tackle the writing assignments from his teachers, thanks to the tips from Professor Watermelon.