JeSSEKA ZELEIKE

Jesseka Zeleike has a PhD in Literature and Film, and is an avid reader, writer, and gardener. She has been teaching writing both at the University of Arizona for the past 30+ years, and through CTYOnline's Center for Talented Youth year round for over 20 years.

Jesseka loves seeing writing students transform into confident, strong thinkers and writers. A number of her 4th- 12th grade and college students have submitted their poems, stories, and essays to contests and have won prizes and had their work published.

Jesseka loves reading (including reading students’ writing), talking to writers about their writing, gardening (food, flowers, trees!), playing music, watching films, doing qi gong and taiji, making and eating with food with friends, and playing with her sweet dog who might just someday run right into the pages of a book herself.