Maine High School Writing Center Conference 2011 (click on photos to enlarge)

High School writing center staffs from across Maine gathered to share ideas and discuss common issues. Sponsored by the Maine Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, the conference began with two poster sessions. Both established writing centers and those students and teachers who were either in the process of creating a center or were thinking about it, displayed posters and shared their ideas. The subjects of the posters ranged from informative and inspiring books to the challenges of being an effective writing center student editor, coach, or tutor. Student and teacher representatives from the ten high schools spoke articulately about their work.

The second session of the day featured three workshops. The workshops were presented by the Nokomis Writing Center, Erskine Academy's Absolutely Write! and former high school writing center tutors.

Each participant received an MWP t-shirt, a folder, pen, "Yeah, write" stickers, stickie notes, and a selection of journal ideas.

You're invited to...

The Maine High School

Writing Center Conference 2010

–hosted by Erskine Academy

–sponsored by the Maine Writing Project

–featuring informative workshops

by students from across Maine!

Day: Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Time: Registration 8:30-9:00am; Conference 9:00am to Noon

Place: Erskine Academy, 309 Windsor Road, South China, Maine 04358-5118 (just outside Augusta on Routes 3/202)... follow signs to multipurpose center

Details: No charge; conference t-shirts available for the first 100 registrants; mid-morning snack supplied... lots of learning about student-staffed writing centers.

For More Information: Professor Rich Kent (rich.kent@maine.edu)

Maine High School

Writing Center Day 2008

University of Maine

College of Education and Human Development 

sponsored by 

Maine Writing Project

UMaine Writing Center 

[click on some photos to enlarge]

High School writing center staffs from across Maine gathered on the University of Maine campus on Wednesday, October 22nd, to share ideas and discuss common issues. Sponsored by the Maine Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and the University of Maine Writing Center, and supported by a service-learning grant from the University's Faculty Senate, the 2nd annual conference began with Table Talk focused on issues facing their student-staffed writing centers.

Table Talk...

High School writing center staffers from Penquis Valley HS, Nokomis Regional HS, Brewer HS, and Erskine Academy join UMaine Interns to discuss common issues facing high school WCenters. 

Harvey Kail of UMaine's Writing Center addresses a question from a high schooler. Harvey was joined by four UM tutors. 

Brewer High School writing center staffers discuss their poster with UMaine Instructor Maureen Montgomery and others. 

Nokomis Regional High School students present on marketing your writing center the productive way and –well–the less than productive way! Hilarious. 

Above: Professor Harvey Kail of the University of Maine Writing Center and Paul  Tritter of the Snowden
International School in Boston. Paul's writing center is one of three funded by the Calderwood Writing Initiative of Boston Athenaeum.

Below: Kaili Jordan (l), a Graduate Assistant and UMaine instructor, and Michelle Leavitt (R), an English teacher and writing center director from Penquis Valley High School, listen to English teacher and WCenter director Ryan Middleswart of Nokomis Regional HS. 

One of Brewer High's posters 

[click on photos to enlarge]

writing = revision to the nth power...

For those few of us in the writing world who actually do math, we know that the exponent "n" is a variable that may relate to an unspecified ordinal number or may also represent, in literary terms, the "highest" or "utmost" (e.g., "delighted to the nth degree"). 

For our purposes here in Maine, revision to the nth power suggests 1.) the revising process lasts as long as it lasts and 2.) that one of the x-factors or variables of the revision process in middle schools and high schools is the writing center. 

(Yes, t-shirt designer Professor Rich Kent either stayed at a Holiday Inn recently or–and the truth of it is–he sat next to Dr. Eric Pandiscio, a UMaine math education professor at the last Faculty Meeting. Luckily, he didn't sit next to an astrophysicist! Imagine the t-shirt design then...)  

Uh? 

Future English teachers and writing center directors of America! 

University of Maine English Education Interns add to the day's conversations in brilliant ways. Hire these people! 

Available for Interviews Spring 2009!

The poster session... students teaching students in the National Writing Project tradition.  

Two Erskine Academy students (top) portray a reluctant client and a skillful student coach. 

Cindy Dean, advisor to Erskine Academy's writing center, chats about the center's history. 

A student staffer from Absolutely Write! of Erskine Academy introduces another skit.