The University Writing Center was used as a model for Orange County’s first middle school writing center at Glenridge Middle School. The UWC Director, R. Mark Hall, was a consultant on the school-wide writing initiative.
The project was started by Bernice Johnson, a science teacher, and the school’s principal, Trever Honohan, as a way to bring an emphasis on quality writing to all core subject areas, and the project grew into the county’s first middle school writing center. The center’s first semester was a success through research, a model based on the UCF University Writing Center, and the work of all those involved, including the 19 peer tutors trained to help their contemporaries build writing skills, work on assignments, brainstorm ideas, and get creative.
Hall was invited to observe the center in operation. “They are amazing,” Hall says. “To sit down with these middle-schoolers about tutoring writing is a remarkable experience. They are serious, thoughtful, and eager to help. These kids are writing about big-world problems that matter to them as teenagers. And they’re creating opportunities, the same as our students. It’s exciting to realize we’re all in this together.”
To read more about the Glenridge Middle School writing center, you can navigate to the original article on the Orlando Magazine.
Learn more about the UCF University Writing Center on their website.