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With FIRE In Their Pens, Young Writers Hone Skill

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By JENNIFER HOWELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 8, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - WESLEY CHAPEL - A desire to put thought to paper brought 14 students to the two-week writers' camp that wrapped up last week at Weightman Middle School.

The campers, who range in age from 8 to 15, spent their days completing a daily "quick write," writing and revising their work for the camp's anthology, writing in their diaries and sharing their ideas.

The young writers also were given the task of naming the camp, given that this was the first time the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project held the camp in Pasco County. The campers followed the lead of the Hillsborough County camp, named ICE Writers, and named Pasco's version FIRE Writers.

FIRE, or Fiercely Imaginative and Remarkably Expressive, was formed because the Hillsborough camp, now in its seventh year in South Tampa, received more than enough applications last year to warrant creating new camps in Pasco and Carrollwood.

"We had 60 kids at camp last summer. We had to turn kids away," said Abigail Kennedy, a teacher facilitator at the camp.

To be accepted, the campers had to be top writers for their grade level. They had to submit a writing sample and a letter of intent, and pay the $315 camp fee.

"There aren't a lot of opportunities for kids who are interested in writing to enhance their skills and take it a level further," said Kennedy, an English teacher at Pasco High School.

It's an opportunity the campers seemed to have seized.

By the beginning of the second week, the students' composition books were nearly filled. They were working on podcasts for the camp's Web site, www.pasco firewriters.com, and, according to Freda Abercrombie, the head of the Pasco camp, they were gelling as a group.
Allie Mallott, a Weightman seventh-grader, said she joined the camp, in part, to work with others who have the same talents and likes. According to her biography on the camp's Web site, the 12-year-old has written four books, the longest of which is 314 pages.

Students Hone Skills

Similarly prolific, 11-year-old Annie Zhao says writing is one of her daily pastimes, and that is why the camp appealed to her.

"I really wanted to hone my skills for writing," said the Weightman seventh-grader. "It's one of my daily activities next to reading. I figured, if I can make it better that would be great."

Chelsee Saunders, 13, saw an improvement in her writing after the first week in camp.

"I've learned to be more descriptive with my writing," said the Weightman eighth-grader.

Abercrombie's niece Heather Johnston has participated in the camp for four years and says the experiences have broadened her outlook toward writing.

"Every year they have something different," said the 15-year-old Deltona High School sophomore. "They always have new teachers and fun assignments. It's a great experience."

One of the assignments the students were given was based on the Salvador Dali painting "The Persistence of Memory." They were asked to write a story from the perspective of one of the clocks, and then write the same story from the perspective of the ants.

The Dali clock assignment and others like it at the camp taught 8-year-old Lora Nowicki to look at a story from different angles.

"I learned how to look from other people's perspective," said the Deer Park Elementary School third-grader.

The campers' works were published in an anthology that was given to each student and the principals of the schools the students represent.

Teachers Trained By Institute

The students weren't the only ones writing during the camp. The teacher facilitators work alongside their students to improve their writing and teaching skills.

"We're writing along with them," said Abercrombie, a language arts teacher at Weightman. "I had never done the Dali clock assignment. We're learning ideas and sharing ideas."

There were six teachers at the camp - one for each of the age groups, a lead teacher and a technical facilitator.

Each teacher had to complete training at the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project's Summer Institute. The Tampa Bay Area Writing Project is the local site of the National Writing Project, a professional teaching network that aims to "improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in the nation's schools," according to its Web site.

Next year, Abercrombie says she would like to have a full camp of 30 students. She is also looking to get grants and sponsorships to help students who might not be able to pay the camp fee.

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