BREWER – Eleven senior Writing Center editors from Brewer High School went to the University of Connecticut to make presentations at the university’s first secondary writing center conference on Oct. 3 in Storrs, Conn.
Professor Tom Deans of UConn’s English faculty organized the event which centered on establishing and maintaining high school writing centers and the importance of peer mentoring.
Due to the fact that they have run a productive high school writing center for 31/2 years, BHS Writing Center students were invited to be the keynote speakers of the conference.
The presentation opened with an introductory film about the BHS Writing Center by faculty adviser and English teacher Ian Carlson. After the film, three student-led presentations covered an editor’s role, how to conference productively and publicity.
Student editors then broke up into small groups and led discussions on writing with students from northern Connecticut high schools – E.O. Smith, Griswold and East Hartford.
“I really enjoyed spreading the word about how useful writing centers can be,” said BHS senior editor Lydia Rosa. “Sharing our experience and helping others care about writing means a lot to us.”
That passion for helping others become better writers translated into a dynamic presentation that received much praise from the Connecticut high schools and UConn’s English faculty.
“The BHS Writing Center’s energy is contagious,” said one high school teacher.
Peer-staffed writing centers have existed at many colleges and universities across the country, and internationally, for more than 20 years. Yet the practice is still rare at the secondary level. Brewer’s writing center, in its short history, has helped students with writing in the disciplines of English, history and health education.
“We believe that our mission is to make better writers, not better papers,” said Rosa. “While better grades can be a product of visiting a writing center, we’re more concerned with helping people become lifelong writers confident in their skills.”
If the applause and compliments from the UConn conference were any indication, the BHS Writing Center’s message of taking a little time to talk about writing is gaining more and more recognition thanks to the passionate students who make up the staff.
Staff members are Alex Davenport, Lydia Rosa, Jenna Duran, DJ Ault, Kayla Triplett, Sheri Valley, Morgan Riley, Jamie Bartol, Anthony Severance, Caitlyn Wilson, Alex Harriman and Steven Rice.
Learn more about the writing center at www.breweredu.org.
Comments
comments for this post are closed