Grant Name:
Adirondack
Center for Writing High School Writing Retreat
Project Size:
$11,150
Grant Amount:
$2,500
Strategic Value:
Producing future citizens
Over the
past seventeen years the Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) has presented
literary programs of the highest quality and brought them to communities, large
and small, throughout the Adirondack region.
They are a support network for writers, a cultural enhancement tool for
communities throughout the Park, and an educational organization devoted to
giving voice to regional writers from elementary school age to residents in
their retirement years.
Cloudsplitter supports an annual High School Writing Retreat that brings
together a group of aspiring young writers with renown poets to study the craft.
This worthwhile program not only gives students writing skills, but validates
their interest, develops a sense of community, instills confidence, breaks down
barriers, and helps with feelings of alienation.
Grant Analysis:
Initial-year success
In
October 2016, one hundred and ten students from all over the Adirondacks filled
the Pine Room on the Paul Smith's College campus. The workshop leaders each
performed their own work to kick off the event, and then led smaller groups of
students in writing workshops. At the end of the day, workshop leaders welcomed
students to the stage to perform their own writing from the day. A huge energy
among students and teachers was created from the workshops and performances.
Previously shy and anxious students shed their worries and performed for a
supportive audience of peers and mentors. The young writers left feeling
inspired and injected with confidence.