By TJJD Communications —
When SW (A female youth) arrived at Mart State Juvenile Correctional Facility, English teacher Jill Fowler immediately recognized her incredible writing potential. SW expressed her emotions and honed her writing skills primarily through rap and poetry, often sharing her writing with her pod during education. That’s when Ms. Fowler noticed the youth has serious skill.
“She has a remarkable gift of using perfectly chosen words to paint a very visual picture with the word count limitation poetry demands,” Ms. Fowler said. And everyone agreed; SW could make a career out of writing.
With this knowledge in hand, when the then-principal Mr. Craig Taylor came upon an approved opportunity for youth to submit written works to be featured in the Young Writers Book, Ms. Fowler took advantage of the opportunity. She explained the opportunity to SW and that’s when her focus and drive became noticeable. SW immediately got to work, getting feedback from her JCO 5 and Ms. Fowler on two poems that were ultimately submitted to the competition. Along with the opportunity to be published in the book, the winner of the “Best in Book” will receive a $100 award.
Then came the waiting period. “Waiting was the hardest part. SW asked me frequently if I’d heard anything from the publishers yet and I had to keep reminding her that these things take time, especially since entries were accepted internationally,” Ms. Fowler said.
On September 30th, 2026, Ms. Fowler was notified that SW would be published in the Young Writers Annual Showcase. News spread quickly throughout the facility, and SW was congratulated by all who knew her. The winner of the $100.00 award will be announced in January 2026, and SW has already said that she wants any winnings to be given to her mother, stating “my words in print with my name displayed as ‘author’ is what I’m most excited about. It shows a pathway to a satisfying and successful career as a writer.”
While SW is clearly a skilled writer, Ms. Fowler’s recognition of the possibility to turn writing into a career is commendable, and exactly the kind of difference-making, life-changing impact TJJD staff make on youth every day.