The Oxnard School District (OSD) has approved two new summer programs as another way of supporting its English learners. The programs are in partnership with Young Writers Camp, a nonprofit program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UC Santa Barbara that has been providing high quality summer writing instruction to Central Coast students for over 25 years, and has often operated camps in Oxnard during that time.
There are two groups in OSD sponsoring this summer’s programs. The district’s English Learner Services department will sponsor the Young Writers Academy, and will provide 100% scholarships for up to 250 English Learners entering grades 38 at target schools in Oxnard School District. The elementary portion of the program (for students entering 35) is targeting Sierra Linda, Ritchen, Curren, Marshall, Rose and Brekke , while the junior high portion (for students entering grades 68), is focused on the three middles schools in the district.
The Young Writers Academy will take place at R.J. Frank Academy of Marine Science & Engineering and run Monday-Friday from June 20-July 1, with grades 3-5 attending in the morning and grades 6-8 attending in the afternoons. Meals will also be provided for attendees while at camp. Many of the Academy teachers, in addition to being SCWriP fellows, are teachers in OSD.
Special emphasis will be placed on English Language Development, with an eye on providing the extra support needed to help ELs increase writing skills. Writing skills are known to be the biggest hurdle for students to move into being fully fluent in English, and down the road affect both high school graduation rates and college acceptance rates. This summer’s Young Writers Academy will also emphasize English Language Development, including a pre and post assessment to measure the improvement in students’ proficiency and attitude toward writing.
The second sponsor, Ramona Elementary School, will run a program for 22 of its own students entering grades 4 and 5 that will also run Monday-Friday, June 20-July 1. Ramona principal Mary Arias Elisondo is a SCWriP fellow, as is the Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) at the school, Leah Panthier, who will coordinate the camp.
The half-day camps will include daily journal writing, field trips to inspire writing, guest lectures from published authors, and structured writing workshops. Students engage in a broad spectrum of fiction and nonfiction that may include a variety of genres, from poetry to narrative, expository to memoir, and more. On the final day of camp, families are welcomed for a potluck celebration where writers read their published work from a camp anthology.
Nicole Wald, Young Writers Camp Director, is excited about the opportunity to partner with OSD in such a large endeavor, and about the learning potential. “Our aim is to give students an experience with writing that leads them to a deeper understanding of the writing process and what it means to be a part of a writing community. We want them to walk away not only with an improved skill set, but a more positive view on writing.”
Now in its 27th year, Young Writers camp has traditionally been offered to incoming 3-9 graders with the aim of providing students access to the best and most inspiring writing instruction available. In 2016, the camp’s open enrollment sessions across four locations from Thousand Oaks to Buellton anticipate serving nearly 300 students, in addition to the 270 in Oxnard. The camps are loosely modeled on practices the teachers have engaged in themselves. Every group of 20-25 students is co-taught by two teachers who have participated in the intensive month-long South Coast Writing Project Summer Institute at UCSB, deepening their understanding of the art of teaching writing while also honing their own composing skills. SCWriP is housed within the Gevirtz School at UCSB.