Woody Guthrie once wrote "All you can write is what you see." At Radical Radishes we first help children accustom their eyes to see and second, their minds to write. We believe this approach is the change needed in our educational system and it starts at the root. We guide, not teach. We provide the space and the time to write, rewrite, and write some more.
Our Story
Radical Radishes founder Nina Zippay is a writer, mother, cook, and camp facilitator. The inspiration to create a safe writing space for children came to her one day in a meeting with one of her daughter's teachers. When the teacher pointed out the flaws in her child's writing, she asked to see the drafts. None could be produced. She asked about the writing process. No information could be supplied. It was then that she realized just how bad things had become and how severely children were being short-changed. In 2013 she created the first round of Radical Radish writing camps with the intent for children to first experience the natural world and then draw down from these experiences and write. She believes that through writing children have much to teach us. We need only to listen and learn.