Tutors of the Year

Congratulations to the Writing Center Tutors of the Year: Carly Schippits and Cassandra Floch! Their significant contributions to the center earned them special recognition in convo and a plaque. Both are incredibly talented writers and we cannot thank them enough for all their hard work helping out with Academy Prep.

Carly's thoughts on winning the award:

"Shock. I don't feel like I'm worthy of this award; surely there must be some other Writing Center tutors who put more time and effort into the position? I love Ms. M-P, Mr. Brandt, and Mr. Righter; I'm going to miss them and the Writing Center as a whole (especially the junior tutors) so much next year!"

 

 

Conference Updates

The Writing Center is already excited for the NCPTW coming in November. So far we have recieved 129 submissions and are preparing for 300 presenters. We have submitted two proposals of our own, one about blogging and one about academy prep. The average submission has come from 1st year grad students and we have many more coming in. The deadline for submissions has been extended until May 1st.

For more information visit the website: http://www.ncptw2013.org/#

 

A Tribute to Our Winners

During the month of February, the Writing Center hosted a contest for all students who came and got their papers tutored. With over 200 tutorials, the odds were not ever in their favor.  Instead of imminent death and bloodshed though, shiny iTunes gift cards were waiting to be had as prizes. Jarod Guzik and Elizabeth Carter were selected from the group as our tributes, well in this case, winners. We want to congratulate them on their wins! Also, thank them and everyone else for coming into the Writing Center and encourage others to do the same. Who knows what the next prizes will be! Stay tuned for upcoming contests and prizes as we wind down on the school year.

Ask aTutor

Dear Aska Tudor:
I didn't make any of the committee meetings and I'm really sorry, but I had three other meetings on Wednesday and Sage had an awsome curry chicken on Thursday and I got so wrapped up in my taste buds that I forgot about the meeting, but I would reallyreallyreallyreally like to be a director of a committee sowhatshouldIdo?
Sincerely,
Nevah Ahn Thyme

Well, Nevah Ahn Thyme it is your lucky day, because Aska Tudor never holds a grudge. Simply email Ms. MP that you would like to interview for one of the following director's positions: blog, publicity, eat'n speak, Academy Prep, self-study, OWL. We will begin interviewing next week.

The WC goes back to First Grade

Yesterday, March 6th, members of the writing center spent their lunch periods in the classrooms of Ms. Keller, Ms. McDonough, and Ms. McElroy working with their first grade students. The week before, each tutor or pair of tutors exchanged letters with a first grader as a way to get to know each other.
Upon arriving to the clasroom, I was directed towards an adorable little girl in a neon pink headband named Alexis. Shy at first, Alexis came out of her shell after Caroline and I began to ask her questions and got to know her better. She told us all about going down the slide with her mom at the park, playing "shark tag" with her friends at recess and painting pictures of her three dogs in her spare time. We were able to help Alexis elaborate when describing her experiences so she could make her story even better.
Caroline and I had a great time working with Alexis and everyone else in the room looked like they were having so much fun with their adorable first graders. The time went by so quickly, it hardly even felt like 45 minutes.

Berkeley to Host the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing!

After a meticulous application process, Berkeley Preparatory School has been selected as the sponsor of the prestigious 2013 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW). This marks the first time in conference history that a high school has been chosen to host the event. 

Tom Brandt, one of the faculty directors of Berkeley's Hoover Writing Center, played an integral role in the application process. He produced a written proposal and a website http://www.ncptw2013.org/# for the conference's bidding process. 

Sunny Tampa, FL - the location of the 2013 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing!

With the conference to be held in November, preparations have already commenced. Berkeley alumnus Marty Baron '72, editor of the Washington Post, will be the keynote speaker. Brandt hopes to emphasize the role of high school writing centers at the conference, specifically by scheduling a thread of presentations by high school students. 

Approximately five hundred high school and college students hailing from various parts of the nation are projected to attend the conference. 

Congratulations to Berkeley's Writing Center on such a historic recognition!

For further information on the NCPTW, please visit the below websites. 

http://brandtom.wix.com/ncptw-2013
http://writingcenters.org/

Literary Character Day 2013

Literary Character Day

Our literary heroes


Once again, the writing center celebrated literary character day, an occasion marked by tutors and students dressing up as their favorite characters, symbols, and themes from literature.

The winning ensemble group was a collection of characters from Alice in Wonderland.  Other ensembles featured Les Miserables and Winnie the Pooh.

Some quotes from the participants:  "It was exciting to dress up with all of my friends from one of our favorite books--Twilight."

"I was excited that more people dressed up than last year, and it wa so fun to see everyone's creative costumes and to play literary trivia!"