OXNARD — Oxnard School District (OSD) added a final stamp of approval at last Wednesday’s Board meeting to another way of supporting its English learners – a summer writing camp. The summer program is in partnership with Young Writers Camp, a nonprofit program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UCSB, that has been providing high quality summer writing instruction to Central Coast students for over 25 years, and has often operated camps in Oxnard during that time.
There are two groups in OSD sponsoring this summer’s programs. The first sponsor is the district’s English Learner Services department. The program they are backing is called the Young Writers Academy, and will provide 100% scholarships for up to 250 English Learners entering grades 3-8 at target schools in Oxnard School District. The elementary portion of the program (for students entering 3-5) is targeting Sierra Linda, Ritchen, Curren, Marshall, Rose and Brekke, while the junior high portion (for students entering grades 6-8), is focused on the three middles schools in the district.
The Young Writers Academy will take place at R.J. Frank Academy of Marine Science & Engineering and run Monday-Friday from June 20-July 1, with grades 3-5 attending from 8:30-11:45 p.m. and grades 6-8 attending from 12:30-4:00 p.m. Meals will also be provided for attendees while at camp (breakfast and lunch grades 3-5, lunch grades 6-8). Many of the Academy teachers, in addition to being SCWriP fellows, are teachers in OSD.
Special emphasis will be placed on English Language Development, with an eye on providing the extra support needed to help ELs increase writing skills. Writing skills are known to be the biggest hurdle for students to move into being fully fluent in English, and down the road affect both high school graduation rates and college acceptance rates. This summer’s Young Writers Academy will also emphasize English Language Development, including a pre and post assessment to measure the improvement in students’ proficiency and attitude toward writing.
Assistant Superintendent Robin Freeman stated, “Oxnard School District is excited about the opportunity for our English Learners to expand their writing skills. These skills are critical to mastering English and the Common Core Standards.”
The second sponsor is Ramona Elementary School, which is running a program for 22 of its own students entering grades 4 and 5 that will also run Monday-Friday June 20-July 1 from 9:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Ramona principal Mary Arias Elisondo is a SCWriP fellow, as is the Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) at the school, Leah Panthier, who will coordinate the camp.
The half day camps will include daily journal writing, field trips to inspire writing, guest lectures from published authors, and structured writing workshops. Students engage in a broad spectrum of fiction and nonfiction that may include a variety of genres, from poetry to narrative, expository to memoir, and more. On the final day of camp, families are welcomed for a potluck celebration where writers read their published work from a camp anthology.
Nicole Wald, Young Writers Camp Director, is excited about the opportunity to partner with OSD in such a large endeavor, and about the learning potential. “Our aim is to give students an experience with writing that leads them to a deeper understanding of the writing process and what it means to be a part of a writing community. We want them to walk away not only with an improved skill set, but a more positive view on writing.”
Now in its 27th year, Young Writers camp has traditionally been offered to incoming 3-9 graders with the aim of providing students access to the best and most inspiring writing instruction available. In 2016, the camp’s open enrollment sessions across four locations from Thousand Oaks to Buellton anticipate serving nearly 300 students, in addition to the 270 in Oxnard.
The camps are loosely modeled on practices the teachers have engaged in themselves. Every group of 20-25 students is co-taught by two teachers who have participated in the intensive month-long South Coast Writing Project Summer Institute at UCSB, deepening their understanding of the art of teaching writing while also honing their own composing skills.
Amada Irma Perez, an acclaimed local bilingual author and educator, will be teaching and presenting at the camps, and typifies the high caliber of instruction students will receive. After 25 years in the classroom, she penned her first book, My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito, during the 1998 SCWriP Summer Institute. Since then, she has taught or presented to over 30 sessions of YWC camps, and published several more children’s books, celebrating the Latino culture and sharing her experiences growing up as an immigrant. Every student in the Young Writers Academy will receive a copy of one of her books as part of the program.
“The magic of camp is most apparent at the end, when kids who were barely writing a paragraph at the start are turning out multiple pages,” commented Perez. “The kids begin to view themselves as writers, and walk away more confident in their writing skills and ability.”
Application materials can be picked up in Oxnard elementary and junior high offices, and are due June 15. The due date coincides with a Parent Orientation night taking place Wednesday, June 15 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the R.J. Frank gymnasium, where Mixteco translators will be on hand to help answer parent questions.
Applications can also be downloaded from the SCWriP website: SCWriP.wordpress.com/youth/oxnard.
Information about the Oxnard camps is also available in Spanish at: SCWriP.wordpress.com/youth/oxnardespanol/, and more general information in Spanish is at SCWriP.wordpress.com/espanol/ or here.
For more information or help with registration, call Young Writers Camp office coordinator Lisseth Murillo at (805) 893-5899 or email youngwriters@education.ucsb.edu.
About Young Writers Camp: Young Writers Camp, a program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UCSB, began in 1990 as a way to inspire a love of writing in youth and provide SCWriP fellows extended professional development opportunities in the summer. The camp has served thousands of children across the Central Coast, from Thousand Oaks to Santa Maria, providing a nurturing environment for students to grow their writing confidence and skills. Learn more at SCWriP.wordpress.com/youth or join the community at Facebook.com/SCWriPYWC.