Rio School District (RSD) is partnering with the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UC Santa Barabara to fund a summer writing program for up to 75 students entering grades 3-9 in the district in September 2018.
When: June 18-June 29, Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (lunch served from 12-12:30).
Where: The camp takes place at Rio Rosales Elementary, and bus transportation to the camp will be provided.
Who: About 9 students were chosen from each school in Rio District to attend, with selections based on a written explanation by students of why they want to take part in the camp.
More Information: The writing program, Young Writers Camp (YWC), has been providing high quality summer writing instruction to Central Coast students for nearly 30 years, and has often operated camps in Oxnard, including one at Rio Rosales Elementary in 2017.
Ryan Howatt, principal of Rio Rosales Elementary, stated, “We’re excited to help seed communities of writers across the district. Our intent is to engage children, staff and our community in a continually evolving love of writing.” He commended Superintendent Dr. Puglisi, Assistant Superintendent Oscar Hernandez and Wanda Kelly, Director of Innovation and Principal Support for their desire to provide this opportunity to Rio students free of charge.
Rio teachers are also being invited to take part in the half day camps, which include daily journal writing, walking 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 learning potential of this district-wide endeavor. “Our aim is to give students an experience that leads 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.”
She continued, ”The camps are highly impactful for writers of all levels, including English Language Learners. 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. YWC teachers are able to provide extra support needed to help ELs increase writing skills.”
Now in its 28th 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 2018, the camp’s open enrollment sessions across three locations from Thousand Oaks to Santa Barbara anticipate serving nearly 200 students, in addition to the 75 in Rio.
The camps are loosely modeled on practices the teachers have engaged in themselves. Every group of 20-25 students is co-taught by two high-caliber 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.
Amada Irma Perez, an acclaimed local bilingual author and educator, will be teaching at the camps, and typifies the high caliber of instruction students will receive. After 25 years in the classroom, she penned her first book, My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito, during the 1998 SCWriP Summer Institute. Since then, she has taught or presented to over 30 sessions of YWC camps, and published several more children’s books, celebrating the Latino culture and sharing her experiences growing up as an immigrant.
“The magic of camp is most apparent at the end, when kids who were barely writing a paragraph at the start are turning out multiple pages,” commented Perez. “The kids begin to view themselves as writers, and walk away more confident in their writing skills and ability.”
About Young Writers Camp
Young Writers Camp, a nonprofit program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at the Gevirtz Gradaute School of Education at UCSB, began in 1990 as a way to inspire a love of writing in youth and provide SCWriP fellows extended professional development opportunities in the summer. The camp has served thousands of children across the Central Coast, from Thousand Oaks to Santa Maria, providing a nurturing environment for students to grow their writing confidence and skills. Learn more at scwripyoungwriters.wordpress.com or join the community at Facebook.com/SCWriPYWC.