Each
year the Bulldog Writing Retreat program, part of the Crossroads
Writing Project, holds a number of weeklong creative writing camps
for area school students.
The retreats gear each session towards different
grade levels, from fourth grade through high-school students.
In order to join the camps, participating students
are nominated by their own language arts teachers. Once in the
camps, students compose short plays, poetry, prose and various
other forms of creative writing. At the end of each session, students
invite their parents and nominating teacher to a lunch and a presentation
of their work. For the 2003 program, students contributed $50
to attend. Some scholarships are available.
According to Brenda Vasicek, Crossroads Writing
Project director and Ferris State associate professor of Languages
and Literature, the program has been on campus for the past five
summers. Teachers from the northern part of the Lower Peninsula,
who are fellows of the Crossroads Writing Project Invitational
Summer Institute, lead the sessions. This year’s teachers
were from Inland Lakes High School, Frankfort Junior Senior High
School and the Creative Learning Academy in Beaverton.
“The program is growing every year,”
says Vasicek “There is plenty of excellent teaching and
writing going on in our area schools. We need to be celebrating
this work.”
The Crossroads Writing Project is a branch of
the National Writing Project, the only continual faculty development
program for teachers in K-16 education funded by the federal government.
For further information on the Crossroads Writing
Project, visit www.ferris.edu/cwp.
