SOSMagJulySeptember2021

Jennifer Ashburn, 68, is a retired educator and education administrator, who worked in the Washington DC area. She attended the Howard University School of Divinity while teaching full-time. Today, she is a writer. Her father, a Church Pastor and her mother were both writers. Whether it was writing a church bulletin, a sermon, thank you notes… “You had to read and write if you were in our family.” In fact, her mother wrote a book of poetry in 1958, entitled, Dark Gods. While living and working in Washington DC, Jennifer volunteered at the Kennedy Center. She loved it. Although she was teaching school, she knew being involved with the arts was where she really wanted to be. While volunteering she met Robert Guillaume (from the TV Show Benson) and his wife. They were at the Kennedy Center, for a play they had written. That’s when Jennifer had her epiphany that she was going to become a writer. She began taking classes offered by The Kennedy Center Education Department focusing on integrating the arts across the educational curriculum. She also began teaching creative writing to children. It was a magical writing camp for kids that she would love to duplicate here. “I was surrounded by all of these fabulous, writing kids.” She later developed a course entitled, The Two Week Novel . “It is so much fun to teach someone who wants to learn. Not just that, but I was learning, too,” she said. Today, Jennifer uses retirement as a time of life to begin her personal development. Her advice is this, “You need to think about whatever it is you love, be it cooking, writing, walking – whatever. Then she had these profound words to share, “The only thing that holds you back is you. When you’re older, you can find your own niche. You have to embrace it. Allow your age to free you!” Jennifer has combined her love for the Christian faith with her love for writing to be a positive influence. She recently worked with the Inter-denominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) and wrote a study guide, for spiritual journaling. She is currently working on Volume 2, “The Beatitudes.” In April 2021, she taught an intergenerational creative writing class. “I start out the course with performance poetry and we all do it together. If you would like to know more about Jennifer Ashburn and how she is making use of her other talents, tune in to “Standing On The Promises,” WGGN’s Christian TV station, channel 9 on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. Not only is she a writer, she is also a minister with her own TV Show. Gene Holmes Ashburn 15