PHOTOS: ERIC FOSTER
BERWICK HIGH SCHOO l adminis-
thewrite stuff
by BECKY LOCK
Berwick High School teachers wanted a student-staffed writing center and BU had the expertise to make it happen. The resulting partnership benefits students at both institutions.
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B L O O M S B U R G U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y LVA N I A
trators and English teachers believed the time was right for a student-staffed writing center. They saw it as a natural way to increase literacy skills and encourage students to spend more time reading and writing. But, where to start? Doing his own homework, Berwick English teacher Bob Calarco read A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers in Grades Six through 12 by Richard Kent. The book advised contacting local universities to see what resources they may have. Just 12 miles away, Calarco found Bloomsburg University’s Writing Center, where director Ted Roggenbuck and consultants Jess Weber and Molly Phelan were excited about the possibility of a collaboration. Consultants, as BU Writing Center student staffers are called, offer aid to graduate and undergraduate students who need help in any stage of the writing process. “Working in a writing center is one of the most powerful learning experiences a person will ever have,” says Roggenbuck, assistant professor of English. “Our job is to help improve writing instruction, and one of the things that helps writers is talking about writing. The more writing centers in the area, the more prepared students will be.” The creation of the high school center provided internship opportunities for Phelan and Weber, neither of whom had experience with writing centers during their high school years. Together, they helped design and establish the training program for the high school’s center, The Write Place,
PHOTO: ERIC FOSTER
Ted Roggenbuck, director of BU’s Writing Center, left, discusses ways to improve student writing with Bob Calarco, Berwick High School English teacher.