Emerging Writers Camp Gives Students Freedom to Express

Summer Learning at Smith Middle School is active down numerous hallways, on the grassy slope outside and in the science and technology labs.

Maybe the smallest group in the first week of summer learning camps on the middle school campus is a group of 11 students working on their writing skills, learning ways to publish, and expressing thoughts and ideas in words and animation.

The Emerging Writer’s Camp is in its first of two scheduled weeks for middle school students.

@HeatherYzaguirre is overseeing the camp. She is a digital design teacher in Hays ISD south of Austin and connected to a Texas State University writing program.

The group of college-level writing instructors work with youth throughout the state during the summer and assist Killeen ISD teachers throughout the school year.

The goal of the camp said Yzaguirre is to allow middle school students the chance to write in a variety of venues without the pressure of grades and deadlines and to see the discipline as more than an academic pursuit.

“They feel free to write,” she said. “We want them to see writing as a tool of passion, something that is fun and expressive and not just something you do in the classroom.”?

They will try their creative efforts on poetry and novel writing and learn to use publishing tools, graphic design elements, and illustration techniques.

“What we hear kids say is that they like the freedom,” she said. “We don’t restrict style. We invite them to write.”

Now in her third year teaching writing in KISD summer programs, Yzaguirre said she is seeing repeat students, which she said indicates success.?

Incoming Nolan Middle School eighth-grader Ieena Simmons is in the writing camp for the second year.

“I like writing in general and I wanted to be able to do it at a camp in school,” she said.

The middle school writer said she enjoyed learning a style called diorama that is a seven-line poem shaped like a diamond.

Simmons said she likes to write stories and to keep journal entries expressing her feelings. She also said that the camp helps her in school.

Writing in school tends to be about responding to given prompts, something the eighth-grader said is not as interesting as exploring writing on your own.?

The writing students were learning to animate their work and had a chance to make their own comic books.

They worked casually in pairs, threes or alone as soft music played and instructors walked around to answer questions.?

During the week, Yzaguirre said the students would look at writing through a variety of creative lenses. One assignment is to create your own candy machine.

It’s not exclusively centered on the imagination, though.

“We talk about the job market,” the teacher said. “We talk about trends for the jobs everyone wants in multimedia and digital graphics. Students like the art and technology, but you still need the writing background to stand out.”

In addition to Emerging Writer’s Camp, Smith Middle School is hosting Camp Invention, coding camp, and robotics camp.

Elementary enrichment camps are ongoing at seven campuses across the school district.

Fine arts camps are scheduled for secondary students throughout the summer, with theater happening this week.?

Athletics strength and conditioning camps are happening at the five high schools with UIL sports.

Free breakfast and lunch are served throughout the summer.

The first day of school is August 14.

All the details on enrichment, fine arts, athletics, and intervention and credit recovery are available on the KISD website:?

https://www.killeenisd.org/summer