[589] Still time to sign up for summer Youth Writers’ Camps at MTSU

MURFREESBORO — Young people across Middle Tennessee who enjoy reading and writing still have time to register for MTSU’s annual Youth Writers’ Camps June 9-19.

Students who’ve finished third through 11th grades can spend two weeks learning to “read like writers” and to tell stories to others with the help of the Middle Tennessee Writing Project. The deadline to register is Friday, May 16.

The camps — Kids’ Camp for third through fifth grades and Teen Camp for grades five to 11 — will be held at MTSU from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. A Kids’ Camp for rising third- to sixth-graders also is scheduled at West Hills Elementary School in Lewisburg, Tennessee.

Registration costs are $225 for new campers and $200 for returning participants.

The Youth Writers’ Camps feature writing-related activities to encourage campers to exercise their creative energy in composing stories, memoirs, comics, songs, poems and more. Local teachers with the Writing Project lead the camps, encouraging students to explore different writing styles and topics and work with their peers and teachers to become more confident in their own writing, said Dr. Ellen Donovan, director of the Middle Tennessee Writing Project and a professor of English at MTSU.

This year’s campers will enjoy a special visit and workshop with Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, the Franklin, Tennessee-based author of novels for middle-grade students that include “The 13th Sign,” “Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different” and “Selling Hope.” They’ll play word games, learn to give and receive feedback on their projects and publish their chosen pieces in a camp anthology.

Each student will receive a camp T-shirt, a writer’s notebook, a daily morning snack and a copy of the camp writing anthology as part of their registration fees. Campers should bring their own lunches each day.

Campers and parents can get more information and find a downloadable application form at http://www.middletnwritingproject.org/youth-writers-camps. A limited number of scholarships also are available for campers; you can learn more by contacting the Middle Tennessee Writing Project office at 615-898-5981.

The Middle Tennessee Writing Project serves the greater Middle Tennessee region as one of more than 200 networked sites that form the National Writing Project, a professional development effort for teachers of kindergarten through college-aged students.

The MTWP focuses on improving writing instruction, helping teachers use writing as an effective teaching strategy in other areas, and developing teacher leadership to reform and improve education.