Love Writing

Hello! My name is Jackson Pearce, and I'm the owner of WordPlay Writing Co.

We unite award-winning published authors with learners to create exciting, engaging, and informative classes!

At a glance info:

• All classes are taught by award-winning published authors.
• We do not use AI to generate lessons or content-- ever!
• We offer classes for reluctant writers, casual writers, pre-professional writers, and everything in-between!
• We strive to create an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive learning environment.
• We pride ourselves on classroom management and ensuring all voices are heard.
• Between us, our teachers have over 55 published books, 9 advanced degrees, and 10,000 students taught!

The teachers working with me are all fellow award-winning published authors, and many have additional qualifications-- former classroom teachers, learning specialists, screenwriters, artists, and multiple advanced degrees. Here's some more info on each of them!

Jackson Pearce:
I'm the author of sixteen books for tweens and teens, including the Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures series (Scholastic), the Ellie, Engineer series (Bloomsbury), and the Doublecross series (Bloomsbury). My books are published in twenty-three languages around the world, and have won multiple state and national awards. I have taught creative writing classes across the country at schools, libraries, colleges, and camps, as well as over 10,000 kids virtually! I also have a bachelor's in English from the University of Georgia.

My approach is to teach creative writing as play— something that is to be enjoyed, experimented with, and shared. Too often I find that students are their own worst critics; I aim to remind them that there’s value and fun to be had in everything you write, whether it’s good, bad, or in-between. 

My classes are fun, informative, and engaging, and I genuinely love helping students uncover or hone their writing talents. Students are encouraged to speak and ask questions during class, and I do my best to relate the material to their likes, dislikes, and interests so they connect better with the coursework. I love teaching Wings of Fire classes, as well as book club classes!

Tiffany Schmidt:
In addition to spending seven years as a sixth grade teacher, I’ve taught kindergarten, preschool, and worked extensively with middle and high school writers as a tutor. I have a Master’s in Elementary Education and a B.A. in English, both from Lehigh University. 

I’m also the author of nine novels for teens and tweens, as well as the momma of three impish Schmidtlets. I’m looking forward to connecting with young writers and readers on Outschool. My goal for my students is always for them to Grow and Glow—knowing it’s safe to try hard and take risks, while feeling good about what they accomplish. My teaching style is dynamic optimism and I can’t wait to write together! 

Tracy Banghart:
Hi! I'm the author of several young adult books, including the Grace and Fury series (Little, Brown), and the forthcoming Perfect Girl (Feiwel & Friends). I also write picture books, including Love Like Chocolate (Little, Brown). I have a BA in English from Davidson College and an MA in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University. I love creative writing and can't wait to share with you all that I've learned over the years.
I'm also an avid journal writer, traveler, Girl Scout leader, Army wife, knitter, stained glass artist, and mom to two kiddos and three pets. I'm looking forward to writing with you!

Saundra Mitchell:
Saundra Mitchell is an award-winning and critically-acclaimed author of twelve novels and two non-fiction history books, and an editor of four anthologies—all for young people. She primarily writes for tweens and teens, and has spent the last fifteen years of her career fighting for the reading rights of young people, especially those from marginalized groups and backgrounds.

For almost twenty years, Mitchell was also the head screenwriter and an executive producer for Fresh Films, the largest filmmaking program for teens in the world. During her tenure, she wrote more than four hundred short films, half of which competed at film festivals all around the world. Ten earned Academy Award eligibility. Mitchell also teaches creative writing and screenwriting to students of all ages, and enjoys reading, studying history, playing ttrpgs and video games, and spending time with her wife and daughters. After a lifetime in the midwest, she now resides in Maryland. Her pronouns are she/they.

Emma K. Ohland:
Emma K. Ohland has been telling stories since before she knew how to write them down. She grew up in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana, but her imagination often carried her away to other worlds. When she’s not writing, reading, or smelling books, she enjoys traveling, crocheting, D&D, and snuggling with her rescue greyhound. She is the award-winning author of FUNERAL GIRL as well as her upcoming novel HERE GOES NOTHING, and her work is featured in the short story anthology OUT THERE. Before publishing, she was an admissions officer of a top 50 university where she read and made decisions on over 5,000 student applications. Along with writing, she is also a private college counselor where she helps students gain admission by crafting strong personal narratives utilizing storytelling techniques. Her students have been accepted into top schools such as the UCs, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, University of Michigan, UT Austin, Northeastern, and more.

Anna Dodds:
Anna Dodds is a published media scholar and award-winning creative writer with a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Film Studies. She has spent her whole life telling stories, and has experience with a variety of storytelling mediums, including but not limited to: prose, screenplays, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, YouTube Videos, essays, and stop-motion animation.

Nelson Dean:
I have been a high school music teacher for fifteen years, and a high school history and English teacher for the last eleven years. In that time, I have taught a wide variety of classes including Percussion Methods, Geography, U.S. History, AP World History, AP European History, AP Art History, and AP English Language. I also serve as a College Board reader in AP European History, so the arts and humanities are a passion as well as my professional field of expertise. During the last decade, I have been my school's teacher of the year and a semi-finalist for county teacher of the year as well. I hold a B.A. in History with a minor in French and a Master of Education degree, all from the University of Georgia.

As an educator, I love to cultivate curiosity, and focus on educating in a way that is both entertaining and connective to other learning and life experiences we have—learning does us much more good when it is something that we can use and share with others! For that reason, I really believe in making learning a dialogue, and something that is shared.