Program Overview

Introduction to the Waring Writing Program

The Waring Writing Program is designed to help students develop and discover an authentic, personal voice through learning the fundamentals of effective writing in various genres, including poetry, stories, dialogues, plays, and personal essays. Students write every week throughout their Waring career, developing both imagination and self-knowledge, as well as the skills of writing.

Program Structure

• The program helps students develop "inner resources" and the skills of writing that they might not have discovered otherwise.
• It enables students to speak personally and memorably at Convocation and Graduation every year.

Compose, Critique, Collaborate

Overview

Writing, like any discipline, is partly a matter of habit, so regular writing habits are established from the start. Classes meet twice a week, and students learn that their work is not written only for the teacher but is presented to, and critiqued by, both peers and instructors. Audience is at the center of the Waring Writing Program.

Teaching Approach

• Over time, the writing class audience becomes sophisticated in their critical comments.
• Writers increasingly understand how their work affects the audience.
• Whether a student has just entered the Core (Grades 6 and 7) Program or is about to complete their senior year at Waring, writing classes are workshops where students write, critique each other, revise, polish, and create portfolios.

Recognition and Events

• Waring students are often recognized for the excellence of their work, frequently winning prizes at the Beverly Public Library Teen Poetry Contest.
• The school holds the North Shore Young Writers Conference annually, drawing published authors from around the country and high school writers from the Boston area, including some of Waring's own students.

Teaching Assistants

• Waring juniors and seniors may apply to become Teaching Assistants, assisting their supervising teachers in planning discussions, facilitating small-group work, and evaluating others' work.
• As Teaching Assistants experience the challenges of planning classes and running discussions, they come to a deeper understanding of their own and others' learning.

Program Details by Grade

Grade 6, 7 & 8

• Classes typically have between nine and eleven students.
• They are taught by junior and senior student Teaching Assistants (TAs) under the direct supervision of adult writing teachers.
• This approach promotes enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, the Writing Program and fosters strong relationships between younger and older students.

Grades 9 & 10

• Groups 2 and 3 (Grades 9 and 10) are taught together in sections averaging twelve students.
• Either a genre approach or a thematic approach is used, with classes conducted as writing workshops.

Grades 11 & 12

• Students choose their writing classes, which are semester-long and focus on a particular topic.
• Recent offerings have included Fiction, Poetry, Personal Essay, Playwriting, Screenplay Writing, and Le Temps Retrouvé, the school newspaper.
• On occasion, under supervision, students do an independent study on a writing topic they wish to explore in depth.

Faculty

Jill Sullivan

• Jill is the Writing Department Chair, a Humanities teacher, and a tutor.
• She holds degrees in Business Economics from Brown University, East Asian Studies from Harvard University, and English from Salem State University.
• Jill joined Waring in 2018.