A marketing consulting company will conduct a writing workshop in Butler for high school and college-age students at the end of the month.

“Not everyone views writing as a valuable career path, but in the digital age, writing is more prevalent (and diverse) than ever before,” said Heather Cherry, owner and marketing director of the company holding the event — Heather Cherry Consulting Co. “I want young writers to have the support they need to flourish in any career, but especially those that involve writing. It's something I didn't have early on in my career.”

Cherry said the workshop will be held at Holly Pointe on Main Street on Sept. 28. For $15 per ticket, aspiring young writers are invited to hear speakers and attend networking lunches aimed at helping students become familiar with the professional world of writing through various writing styles and networking tactics.

Breakfast snacks and lunch will be provided, Cherry said. The workshop will also include a breakout writing session where creative writing will be discussed and students will be taught its application in college essays and professional writing assignments.

After lunch there will be a second breakout session focused on the detailed parts of writing during the editing and constructive criticism stages. By the end of that session, Cherry said, students will have a session of the different levels of editing from copy editing, developmental editing and proofreading.

Additionally, Cherry said, “We are asking each attendee to write a 250 word essay answering the question, 'What makes you excited about writing?' They won't be graded or anything ... They are simply a tool to make sure we offer content that meets their needs.”

The hope, Cherry said, is that students will leave feeling confident in pursuing writing careers.

Cherry said that part of the idea behind the workshop was to push back against the education system's emphasis on science and math, known at STEM

“Going to college myself, I felt lucky because I was inclined to writing, but I see my younger nieces and nephews and they're not being taught it,” Cherry said. “There isn't anywhere for kids to exercise their writing. How can they be expected to write well when nobody's teaching them that? There might be natural writers out there that have no outlet for them or nobody taught them how to do it.”

The four speakers will be: Gael Gilliland, the founder of The Legacy Recorder, who will be presenting career track options; Tricia Pritchard, a writing teacher at Butler Community College, who will lead the networking lunches; Ruthann Bowen, a web designer who will also be leading the networking lunches; and Anne DeGerolamo, a middle school English teacher with the Upper St. Clair School District, who will be presenting on the various opportunities available with writing.

Gilliland said she was happy to join the workshop when she heard about it,

“I have been wanting to do something like this for a while,” Gilliland said and explained what her role will be during the event. “Basically it's going over the different ways that students can use writing as a career that isn't just being an author. The purpose of my presentation is to give them a quick overview, like here's seven ways to create reliable income and it doesn't have to be an author.”

Tickets are on sale until Sept. 21. Register online at www.heathercherryconsulting.com/events.