Spartan Writing Center shows strong start

Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Writing Center is benefitting from its collaboration with Homewood High School and UAB.

The center, housed in the library, helps students with their writing throughout the writing process. Students staff the Spartan Writing Center, and directors Megan Hastings and Christina McGovern said they are lucky to have gifted and thoughtful students who are able to give each other feedback.

Students went through an application and recommendation process to work in the writing center, and nine we selected.

“We were looking most for that relational quality in the students,” McGovern said. “We wanted team players.”

The writing center begins with a class, where students spend time training for the process of formal tutoring. After weeks of training, students begin training. Since the writing center opened, students have helped with more than 60 writing assignments.

“We are thrilled to offer a place for students to come for peer-to-peer writing help in a relaxed, welcoming environment,” Hastings said. “Also, we have been so pleased with the success of the SWC so far and hope to see it continue to grow and thrive.”

One of the student tutors, Marley Barnett, said the best part of tutoring is “working with someone and seeing that spark go off.”

Teacher Shannon Marks said the writing center has been a good tool for her students.

“The Spartan Writing Center has provided my students with a new platform to collect feedback about their work,” Marks said. “The reflective process that they’ve experienced with their peer tutors has been invaluable, and it’s helped build their confidence as writers.”

-Submitted by Christina McGovern