Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Sketch Haines.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Over 20 years ago, I moved to Houston sight-unseen to teach high school English and dance in HISD. At the time, I planned to be here for two or three years, max. But I found the city and its inhabitants to be incredibly welcoming; Houston certainly has a way of growing on you!
I taught for five years and was consistently inspired by the creativity and courage of my students, many of whom had recently immigrated, overcoming unimaginable obstacles for a chance at the American dream.
My dream had always been to become a writer, but growing up in a middle class family in the Midwest, I didn’t know any professional artists or working writers. It didn’t seem responsible to forgo a stable job and regular paychecks to pursue my passion. Still, every day for five years, I taught students who had started with a lot less and given up far more.
When I learned about Writers in the Schools, an organization that connected professional writers with children to unlock the joy and power of storytelling, I was intrigued. Then I learned that WITS actually paid writers a livable wage, and I was enamored. I left full-time teaching to become a WITS Teaching Artist, which allowed me to focus on my own creative work for the first time in my adult life. I eventually got an MFA in poetry from the University of Washington in Seattle.
It took another 15 years, but I finally made my way back to WITS; rejoining the organization as Executive Director in March of 2026. To lead an organization that was so instrumental in my own creative journey is an incredible honor. It also keeps me humble to be surrounded by talented and empowered young people; I’m constantly blown away by their writing, often thinking to myself, dang, I wish I had written that!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Landing my dream job is incredible but it can also feel like a lot of pressure at times; I take the welfare of the writers and staff as well as the sustainability of the organization very seriously. When I begin to get overwhelmed, I lean on the expertise of WITS’ board of directors and remind myself that I’m here for the long haul. I just need to focus on small improvements that will benefit WITS over time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Writers in the Schools was founded in 1983 by a writer and a teacher who believed that all young people have a story to tell, and they deserve the tools and confidence to share with the world. WITS writers, or Teaching Artists, bring expertise across a myriad of genres–fiction, non-fiction, poetry, spoken word, journalism, podcasting, graphic novels and more–to their work, instructing and mentoring the next generation of creatives.
WITS places Teaching Artists in classrooms, afterschool programs, hospitals, libraries, community centers, parks, bookstores, anywhere we might engage with young people. Through WITS, children from kindergarten up to 12th grade have the opportunity to publish or perform their own original work, instilling courage and confidence in their own voices.
Our programs make a meaningful and measurable impact on kids’ lives:
Over 90% of participants demonstrate strong growth (a grade letter or more) in writing fundamentals such as vocabulary, sentence structure, and figurative language.
Maybe even more importantly, participants rate themselves as feeling better–more comfortable in their own skin, more connected to their community–as a result of writing and sharing their ideas.
This summer, we launched our first Community Writing Project: a mystery story titled The Case of the Missing Couplet. Kids of all ages sent in original characters–suspects, witnesses, and “wild cards”–that may hold the clue to recovering the final two lines of the world’s most beautiful poem. The mystery will be solved, and the poem read by our very own Houston Youth Poet Laureate, at our upcoming gala on November 19 at the Revaire. You won’t want to miss it!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
A question I get asked a lot is whether I see the growth of Artificial Intelligence or AI as an obstacle to WITS’ vision of equipping young people with the skills and confidence to share their stories with the world. The people posing the question are either sheepish–as if AI is a dirty word–or smug–they’ve already answered for themselves. I often surprise them by expressing sincere gratitude for the question; afterall, it’s on everyone’s mind so let’s dig into it!
AI is a tool. It is incredibly effective at aggregating existing data, ideas, and, yes, even creative work but it does not produce original thought. An algorithm has not lived your life, felt your emotions, made your choices, and dealt with the consequences of those choices. Creative pursuits are not just about the product–a poem, a painting, a song–but also the process by which it came into existence. When I think about art’s impact on an individual, I return often to the final lines of Ranier Maria Rilke’s poem “The Archaic Torso of Apollo:” for here there is no place / that does not see you. You must change your life. That is the enduring power of art and creative expression.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.witshouston.org
- Instagram: @witshouston
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writersintheschools
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/writers-in-the-schools
- Youtube: @witsvideo
