Led by La Sociedad para las Artes, NMSU WITS brings graduate student writers from the MFA Creative Writing Program into classrooms and community spaces across Las Cruces 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 develop lessons in conversation with their partner teachers to meet the needs of the class and to offer new ways of approaching the material. WITS can allow students to write whatever they want without fear of correctness or grade, including incorporating illustration, textual collage, and multilingual writing.

Additionally, our WITS course for MFA students offers ongoing curricula and training on topics such as histories of community arts programs, social justice movements, public schooling, classroom management, creative writing pedagogy, and publishing. We welcome classroom visitors to share their experience in community arts, such as Mark Nowak, the founder of the Worker Writers School, and Brittany Ramirez, a volunteer with Las Cruces Public Libraries.

At the end of the program, NMSU students and community partners have the opportunity to celebrate their work together in readings and by publishing zines and anthologies. This is an incredible program that provides valuable experiences both for the students and the writers.