Meet Our Instructors: Riley Strait
Riley Strait
Majors: Writing Seminars & English
Year: Class of 2028
Teaching at: Mount Royal Elementary/Middle School
What inspired you to work with WBS?
Without my experience as an Ignite Fellow with Teach For America, I may not have trained the confidence to even apply for Writers in Baltimore Schools. Before the classrooms of in-person students I’ve befriended through WBS, it was just me and two kids from Louisiana stuck in my laptop screen reading Goldilocks. To my few yet dear unnamed-here students from Teach For America, I owe you my bravery and love for teaching, making the transition from Pencil Spaces to Baltimore possible. Seven-year-olds are fantastic convincers and persuaders, guiding you toward the correct path before you see it yourself.
What surprises you about teaching for WBS?
The emotional maturity of students in Baltimore schools trumps that of many adults in my family. Anyone who tells you writing is for sensitive people is missing the point — writing makes you sensitive. In our classrooms, students share pieces of themselves with others while also learning how to graciously handle the stories — both made-up and personal — of their peers. Sometimes tears get involved. However, for every two crying eyes come at least four helping hands, and always I’m left astounded by the communities students here are enabled to form through writing groups.
What are some things you love?
My home state, Kansas. Laundry-scented wallflowers. Orange soda and artificial banana flavor. Old houses with antique furniture. The Chinese buffet in my grandma’s town. Memories, museums, minty toothpaste. Family histories. According to Spotify, “Freak Folk.” Horror movies and night walks, not in that order. Spelling out et cetera. Et cetera.
What does a perfect morning (or afternoon) look like for you?
I sing well in my hot morning shower, though no Broadway recruiters listen. SETTING: Victorian farmhouse, lonely field. During sunrise, I’m perched in a rocking chair on my wraparound porch and write the perfect poem that doesn’t hurt on its way out. Somewhere peanut butter is involved.