As parents arrived Thursday morning to pick up their children from a literacy camp at Ivy Creek Elementary, there were several thumbs-ups to teachers while students gave hugs and posed for cellphone pictures.

Addison Thayer, a rising fourth-grader, attended the 14th annual Mill Creek Cluster Student Literacy Institute where about 130 students ages six through 15 learned from seven teachers about the craft of writing without the burden of a test prompt.

“I didn’t know I was going to write this much, and make a book,” Addison said, moments after a hug with teacher Lynn Worley. Addison’s book is titled “The New Kid” and is about how two kids respond to a bully.