Florida Christian Writers’ Conference

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention.

Pennsylvania Association of Art Educators Conference (PAAE).

ArtsErie, Art-In-Action Learning Labs.

Western Pennsylvania Artist-In-Education Conference.

Clarion County Educators In-Service Day

Write-To-Publish Conference

Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers’ Conference

St. Davids Christian Writers’ Conference

Montrose Christian Writers’ Conference

Click the button below to download a list of my prepared workshop topics, then contact me to book a speaking engagement!

As a teaching artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,  I engage students in using language to focus their thinking and channel their creativity.   Writing is first of all a discipline, a craft to be learned then used for self expression.  Writing makes us better thinkers and communicators and is worthy of our dedication and hard work.

I use hands on activities that challenge my students to think critically and creatively and connect to their world.  But I’ll let them speak for themselves:

Elementary school:

"I am learning different ways to use language…it’s really exciting and fun!"

"I experienced the way you can do so much with just a little imagination.  You helped me find the poetry in me!"

"I love poetry now because it’s feelings and art and you can write about anything."

"Today I learned to use my imagination more and let it go wild.  My mind is growing."

"I learned how to read and write better and think and use my brain.  Thanks for coming to our school and making me love it at the end."

"What I liked about poetry is that I learn language…you learn more English."  (ESL learner)

Gifted students in Allegheny College’s programs for public schools:

"I learned to perfect my writing abilities and broaden my choice of words.  Now I know there are different ways to get your point across to the audience."

"Ms. Zill’s creative writing class is fantastic.  I love being able to write what I like and have interesting prompts to work from.  I receive honest critique and enjoy listening to and sharing thoughts with classmates.  This class has definitely helped me grow as a writer."

"Before this class I didn’t like getting opinions that weren’t positive…that has changed.  Now I enjoy getting feedback on my work."

"Writing was never my strong point but everyone helped me and I was glad that I received constructive criticism….I valued that.  This was a great class and I loved it."

“Kayaking the Lagoons” Erie Reader, July 3, 2011  A first person account of kayaking a popular area in Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie.

“Poetry Out Loud” Erie Reader, March 31, 2011  An in-depth exploration of a high school poetry competition sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

Benedictine Sisters Offer “Heritage Of Hope”  The Meadville Tribune, Feb. 28, 2009  A story about the many ministries of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

“Penney Saver” The Meadville Tribune, Nov. 19, 2009  A first person story about a friendship and the gift of an old sailboat.

My writing has been published in many periodicals, including Christian Communicator, Teaching Artist Journal, Lookout, Byline, The Lyric, The Penwood Review, Erie Reader, Edge, Pennsylvania Magazine, Cross & Quill, AliveNow, Totem (Gannon University Press), Esprit (Canada), Grit, and Live. 

My editorials and feature stories have been published in The Meadville Tribune (Crawford County, Pennsylvania).

A recent credit is as a co-author of the chapter “The Arts In Action Project” in the academic book Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity (Springer Science+Business Media).

Two stories have appeared in the anthologies edited by Yvonne Lehman, Divine Moments and Spoken Moments (Grace Publishing).