Youth Summer Writing Workshop

The Summer Writing Workshop will teach high school students currently performing below grade level the fundamental points of writing to prepare them for future career and college goals. This intensive writing program will be held at Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School.

Based on a program created and implemented in Gainesville, Florida by Jessica Tomiko Anders and Dawn Banks, the Workshop serves as the academic component to the existing Academically Correct program. The goal of this summer program is to work with high school students to improve and build writing skills that are necessary regardless of their future career/college goals. The program will assist students in groups of two or three so that they may receive personalized instruction. Paid volunteers from area high schools, University of Tennessee and the community serve as instructors for the program.

This intensive summer program will follow a relatively strict curriculum. The purpose of the program is to give students the tools they need to fully express themselves through writing. The curriculum will look at writing from a number of perspectives, including age-appropriate rap and hip-hop lyrics, African-American and Latino contemporary poetry, the essay and the research paper. It is our hope that by examining this myriad of genres, the student will be able to find a place for self-expression through writing.

The program will focus on several overall goals:

Having Fun with Writing
Expressing Ideas in Standard English
The Importance of Formatting and Neatness
How to Write a Paper