(WITS)

Director: Connie Voisine

Led by La Sociedad para las Artes, the Writers in the Schools program (WITS) brings graduate student writers from the English Department into classrooms across the Las Cruces area to work with younger students. The goal of the program is to encourage both an appreciation and application of writing that gives students— many Latino or Chicano and living under the poverty line— the opportunity to discuss, interpret, and express themselves through a variety of genres. Graduate students may be able to develop lessons that incorporate the themes already present in the class by working with teachers to adapt lessons to fit the needs of the class. This is an incredible program that provides valuable experiences both for the students and the writers.

WITS participants are paired up with local high school or middle school teachers in order to help get students excited about writing and enhance their chances of success in the future. Participants connect with the teachers they’ve been assigned to and find out where the class is at and what they’re working on and then set up 10 hours of in-class teaching. This is an opportunity to learn from some amazing teachers in our area, and it can give you experience teaching creative writing. If 10 hours seems like more than you can fit into your busy schedule, you can work together with another grad student so each of you does five hours in the classroom or you can tackle each class together.

Previous school participants include Vista Middle School, Academia Dolores Huerta, Alma D’Arte, Sierra Middle School, Las Cruces High School, Lynn Middle School, Mayfield High School, Desert Hills Elementary, Crossroads, Oñate High School, and Arrowhead Park Early College High School.

Here are a few reasons to get involved with WITS: