POET & PEN PAL
When you join Kwil.Club you may embark on a mystical, magical adventure with whimsical words of wisdom, wonder and wellness penned by frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed Kwil.
While some think of Kwil as an educational mascot who champions literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning, his family, friends and fans know that our frizzy-fuzzy pen friend is so much more. For them, Kwil is "realer than real” and “something you feel.”
Kwil.Club is sponsored by Kalen Marquis, MACP, RCC, an online therapist and educator with nine years of post secondary education and three decades of experience as a teacher, librarian and counsellor. Kwil is his labour of frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed love.
Kwil creates and connects in the most poetic, passionate, and purposeful way. More than many literacy, creativity and social-emotional programs, Kwil creates the will to learn and practice new skills.
Kwil is a giggly, googly-eyed poet and pen pal. He lifts literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning concepts off the page into the minds, hearts, and mailboxes of those who create and connect with him. “From age 4 to 94 and whole lot more!” says Kwil. “EVERYONE is welcome to join Kwil.Club!”(How about YOU?)
As Kwil states with excitement that comes from the bottom of his frizzy-fuzzy heart, “If I’ve told them once, I’ve told them a million billion trillion zillion Kwillion times, ‘Keep your pencils moving and your keyboards tapping!”
GET A FREE KWIL CLUB MEMBERSHIP!KWIL'S RADICAL REMINDER
Just BE who YOU are
And DO what YOU do
Then all of life’s treasures
Will come to you!
In fact, they’re INSIDE you!
Your thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams!
WELCOME TO KWIL.CLUB
“Keep your pencils moving and your keyboards tapping!”
Kwil.Club is a free club for seekers of the broadest and deepest domains of Knowledge, Wonder, Imagination, and Learning! (“And Love! Don’t forget the Love!” says frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed Kwil). It’s also a whimsical world where writers and wordsmiths can weave words of wisdom, wonder, and wellness.
Without a doubt, Kwil.Club is the perfect place for poets and pen pals who like to create and connect by reading, writing, drawing, and painting word pictures.
Kwil hopes that every child and “creative inner child” feels hugged by his special blend of humour and heartstrings when they join Kwil.Club. Kwil invites you and yours to sign up to receive his rhyming, chiming letters full of love and laughs. Please sign up and spread the frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed word!
If you would like to go on a wonder-filled adventure and revel in the sometimes wild n’ wacky world of literacy, creativity, and social-emotional learning, join the Kwil.Club. !
Get ready for rhythm, rhyme and chime that is oh-so-fine–frizzy, fuzzy and divine! Line after line! :-)
TRANSCENDING TIME
AN EXCERPT: The Rhyming, Chiming Letter from Frizzy-Fuzzy Green-Nosed Kwil
Did you read it?
Will you write?
A letter from YOU…
Is Kwil’s dream come true!
The stanzas above are the final verses in the story that started it all three decades ago. Kwil Kids Publishing Centre, The Kwil Kids Card & Book Collection, Creative Connections, Digital Dialogues, Mascot Mania, Kwil Summer Camps, . . .
Oh the fun we've had keeping pencils moving, keyboards tapping, pages turning, and imaginations yearning! There is nothing like the sweetness of Knowledge, Wonder, Imagination, and Learning! ('And Love,' says Kwil. 'Don't forget about the Love!')
KWILICIOUS CREATIONS
Kwilette says, “To create... feels great!’
(As Kwil's frizzy-fuzzy, pink-nosed artistic sister, she should know! :-)
INTRODUCING THE KWILVILLIANS
It takes a Kwil-Village to live lives of wisdom, wonder & wellness!
Create and Connect with US in Kwilville!
Kwil
Poet & Pen Pal
Kwil is a frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed writer who loves 'rhythm, rhyme and chime.' He writes letters, poems and stories at his desk in the writing studio above the Kwil Cafe. His motto is "Keep your pencil moving!"
Kwilette
Artist, Painter & Sculptor
Kwilette is Kwil's googly-eyed, pink-nosed sister who is an artist who loves to sketch, paint and sculpt. She is now all grown up and the proud owner of Kwilette's Gallery & Gift Shop. Her motto is "To create feels grreeat!"
Kwil Kids
All The Creative 'Kids" in Kwilville
Do you love to write, read, sketch, paint or sculpt like Kwil and Kwilette? Do you like to craft, sew, garden, or cook? Do you like to explore, invent, think, feel, express and share? If so, YOU are already a Kwil Kid!
Kwilsters
Parents, Teachers, Counsellors, Supporters
Kwilsters are all the wonderfully supportive family members, friends and educators of all kinds who help promote wisdom, wonder and wellness for all the Kwil Kids in Kwilville through literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning. Thank you!
Kwilvillians
All the Kwil Kids & Kwilsters in Kwilville
Kwil, Kwilette, and all the Kwil Kids and Kwilsters who support and encourage them in the enjoyment of wisdom, wonder and wellness are called Kwilvillians. They are all the Kwil characters past, present, and future who create and connect to promote literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning.
Kwil Villains
Plodders, Prodders, Plotters & Problem Spotters
Although Kwil is a peace-loving poet and pen pal living in a mystical, magical land of Knowledge, Wonder, Imagination, Learning & Love, Kwil understands that every good story needs a plot with a 'problem.' That's where the Kwil Villains come in! They are the Plodders, Prodders, Plotters, and Problem Spotters who take the joy and love out of learning! But don't worry, just like the File Stuffers & Fluffers, they won't win! Super Kwil will see to that!
TIME'S TESTIMONIALS
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS: The JOY of Keeping Pencils Moving & Keyboards Tapping!
In the Words of Kwil Kids
& Kwilsters
Oh for the love of a frizzy-fuzzy, googly-eyed, green-nosed guy making pencils fly!
KWIL
With his giant pencil
And his cute green nose.
He likes to write stories
And poems and prose.
He’s fluffy and round
With eyes very bright.
He’s quiet and shy
And always out of sight!
If you try very hard
You may catch a glimpse,
But because he’s so shy
You’ll probably have to squint.
He’s your friend and mine
With a pencil so fast,
So come and join him
You’re sure to have a blast!
A.K., Kwilster
Going Global with 21st Century Tools
By Jennifer Pardee, Retired Principal, Bowen Island Community School
It is rare to find an educator who so masterfully combines a passion for literacy and a deep understanding of human development that when carefully woven together not only enhances children’s lives but changes them. When I first met Mr. Kalen Marquis (fondly known as ‘Mean Ole Mr. M’), I knew that he was more than a Teacher-Librarian and Counsellor.
At the same time I met Kalen, I was introduced to his mascot Kwil and several of his imaginary companions. As fate should have it, this encounter proved to be the beginning of a special and highly prized relationship that would deepen over time given our mutual passion and commitment to the well-being of those we serve.
My intuition was correct: Kalen’s brilliant brainchild, Kwil, indeed inspires children through his gifted use of words and rhyme that are laced with love and kindness. What transpired over the following months and years extended far beyond my initial expectations. I have seen how children’s imaginations have been ignited through Kwil and how students’ reading and writing have become more purposeful and authentic as they engage with Kwil through regular correspondence. The culture in our library has been transformed! No longer is it simply a warehouse of books but a place where literacy comes to life.
While the idea of having children write to an imaginary character is a relatively simple concept, Kwil provides a unique opportunity for students to communicate and to share thoughts and feelings in an authentic and meaningful way. Kwil provides a personalized opportunity for students to write, dream, draw and imagine – all by engaging with an imaginary character in an imaginary world that is grounded in “wisdom, wonder and wellness”.
I am excited to learn that Kwil Kids is looking to reach beyond the walls of our school and other communities where Kwil has been resident. Imagine the possibilities for Kwilville given 21st century technology tools!
CREATE & CONNECT IN KWILVILLE
Monthly, Quarterly & Yearly Access Passes Coming Soon!
STORIES & POEMS BY KWIL & KALEN MARQUIS
Available digitally around the world
KALEN AND KWIL
Embracing the Frizzy-Fuzzy, Googly-Eyed, Green-Nosed Creative Inner Child
Kalen Marquis
Therapist, Educator & Human Bean
Kwil works, learns, and plays with Kalen Marquis, a therapist, educator and ‘human bean’ whom he has known and inspired for thirty years as a teacher, librarian and counsellor.
Their passionate, purpose-filled work together in literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning began officially in 1996 when Kwil came to life in Kalen’s primary classroom and the Kwil Kids Publishing Centre was born with the help of so many dedicated volunteers to whom every story, poem, book and reply letter are dedicated.
Creative Connections: The JOY of Keeping Pencils Moving & Keyboards Tapping is the long and Kwilicious story of Kalen, Kwil and all the Kwil Kids and Kwilsters that brought literacy, creativity and social-emotional learning to life as frizzy-fuzzy, green-nosed fun. Currently under revision, this manuscript needs an enthusiastic and visionary agent or publisher to help Kwil’s googly eyes gleam with dreamy delight.
Kalen Marquis may be contacted through his private counselling practice at KalenMarquis.com or by sending an email.
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