Students Freed to Dabble in Creative Waters

Publication: St. Petersburg Times
Date: February 2, 2007

Summary: A writing program at Weightman Middle gives them a fresh approach to the essay portion of Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

Excerpt from Article

But here at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School, principal Shae Davis and her staff want students to look beyond the usual. This year, they started a Writing Academy to help the best writers hone their skills.

University of South Florida education professor Pat Daniel, director of the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project, sat in on Wednesday's sessions. She helped train the teachers who run the program.

"What we're doing in here is helping to free them," Daniel said. "It's fun. It's funny. They take off with it. I say, 'Take your voice into the FCAT Writes and show the judges that you have the command of the language that you have.' ... That's what they are looking for. It's really not, and I have this from on high, the five-paragraph essay."

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