- April 10, 2026
Indian Trails Middle School sixth grader Oliver Custer read A Poem Dedicated to Frosty Ice at the Book Launch of the Write On! anthology. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas High School senior Dani Terrell (center) thanks MHS writing club leader Ollie Jordan (left) and Education Foundation Executive Director Teresa Rizzo before reading her story. Photo by Brent Woronoff
From left, Josh Crews Writing Project school district coordinators Julie Hald and April Adams; Carla Cline, who helped start the project with the late Joe Rizzo; and Flagler County Education Foundation Executive Director Teresa Rizzo. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Josh Crews Writing Project club leaders Sierra Salza of Indian Trails Middle School and Tegan Gardner of Buddy Taylor Middle School. Under Salza's guidance, ITMS tripled its number of student authors from last year, while Gardner's BTMS writing club doubled its number of participants from last year. Photo by Brent Woronoff
A student follows the story of a reader on stage. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Bunnell Elementary School fifth graders Haylee Rodbourn and Madison Flynt read one of their collaborative stories at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rymfire Elementary School fourth graders Payton Jackson and Aria Trinkle read their story, The Magic Pen, at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Belle Terre Elementary School fifth grader Joy Rodrigue read her story on stage at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Old Kings Elementary School fifth grader Catherine Mangal read one of her stories on stage at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wadsworth Elementary School fourth grader Kyle Abreu read his story on stage at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Buddy Taylor Middle School seventh grader Ezra Greenhalgh read his poem on stage at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast senior Hansell Bruce. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Imagine School at Town Center sixth grader Teagan Castaldo read her story on stage at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast digital media student Michael Melton designed the cover of the 2026 Write On anthology. Melton, a sophomore, said he tried to make the design as colorful as possible. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Attending the book launch were Josh Crews' brother, Adam Crews (center), with nieces, nephews and girl friends: Emily, Ian, Aaron, Savannah, Julianna and Isaiah. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Josh Crews Writing Project club sponsors for each Flagler County school with project district coordinators at right: Julie Hald and April Adams. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Belle Terre Elementary School fifth grader Joy Rodrigue reads her story, Penobscot Tribe, at the Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas writing club leader Ollie Jordan looks at photos she took of her student authors at the 2026 Josh Crews Writing Project Book Launch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Josh Crews Writing project’s “Write On” anthology gets bigger and better every year, the project’s district coordinators say.
The Flagler County Education Foundation held its 14th Book Launch on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Buddy Taylor Middle School cafeteria. Flagler County students in grades 4-12 who participated in their schools’ before- or after-school writing clubs, were invited to have their work published in the anthology.
This year, a record number 159 students from 10 schools produced the project’s largest anthology yet, totaling 297 pages.
“I’ve been impressed with how many kids we’ve been able to expand it to,” said April Adams, one of two district coordinators — the other is Julie Hald.
“In the past we’ve had trouble getting kids to write anything, but this year was amazing,” Adams said.
Indian Trails Middle School club sponsor Sierra Salza and Buddy Taylor Middle School sponsor Tegan Gardner were honored for expanding their school’s clubs. The number of BTMS students participating in the project doubled since last year, while the number of ITMS authors tripled.
Not only are the numbers up, Hald said, but so is the quality.
I think this was one of the best years for writing. Every year the quality gets better and better.
—JULIE HALD, district co-coordinator for Josh Crews Writing Project
“I think this was one of the best years for writing,” she said. “Every year the quality gets better and better.”
The project’s mission is to give all students a chance to express themselves through creative writing and “be heard and praised, both as individuals and as members of a school community,” the introduction to the anthology states.
The Josh Crews Writing Project began in 2012 with the first anthology released later in the school year. Carla Cline and the late Joe Rizzo created the program in memory of Crews, a local resident who was known for his passion for reading and writing. Crews died in a car crash in 2010 at age 34.
Rizzo and Cline were both childhood friends of Crews. At Crews’ memorial they talked about starting a creative writing scholarship in Crews’ name, Cline said. That evolved into the creative writing project.
There was so much energy and love around Josh. I don’t think I have a memory of him not holding a book or quoting an author.
— CARLA CLINE, Josh Crews Writing Project co-creator
“There was so much energy and love around Josh,” Cline said. “I don’t think I have a memory of him not holding a book or quoting an author.”
She said she was inspired by the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Contest. Tant was also a friend of Cline’s.
“It was how they took a tragedy and turned it into something good for the community,” Cline said.
At the Book Launch, the student authors sat with their school clubs along the back wall of cafeteria. They signed each other’s books. They signed their parents’ books and their friends’ parents’ books.
An author from each school stood on the stage and read their contribution to the anthology. Bunnell Elementary School’s Haylee Rodbourn and Madison Flynt and Rymfire Elementary’s Payton Jackson and Aria Trinkle each shared the reading of their collaborative stories.
The other readers were Belle Terre Elementary’s Joy Rodrigue, Old Kings Elementary’s Catherine Mangal, Wadsworth Elementary’s Kyle Abreu, Imagine School At Town Center’s Teagan Castaldo, Buddy Taylor Middle School’s Ezra Greenhalgh, Indian Trails Middle School’s Oliver Custer, Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Anthony Yearling and Matanzas High School senior Dani Terrell, who thanked Matanzas club sponsor Ollie Jordan and Education Foundation Executive Director Teresa Rizzo for all they have done for the project.
FPC sophomore Michael Melton designed Write On’s cover in his digital media class. It features a dragon slithering between the pages of an open book and is full of color.
“I said, ‘Let’s see how colorful I can get,’" Melton said.
The Education Foundation, which runs the project, used to send the anthology out to a publisher. But now it is self-published.
“We use publishing software, reformatting, making final edits,” Hald said. “I love doing it. I love proofreading and editing.”
The project is a labor of love for everyone involved. Crews’ brother, Adam, and his nieces and nephews were in attendance as they always are, touched by Josh’s long-lasting impact on Flagler County students’ lives.
