Center for Writing in College, Career and Community Blog

Middle School Writing Conference Meets LAD Fair

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We want to encourage students to submit their writing, for publication as well as for scholarships. To that end, every session at this year’s Middle School Writing Conference – held on Friday, May 8 – will align with one or more writing competition categories outlined by the Language Arts Department of Southwest Missouri.

LAD Fair, an annual competition hosted by the Language Arts Department of Southwest Missouri, provides students an opportunity to submit their writing and receive awards from writers and educators in the community who serve as adjudicators. The postmark deadline for K-12 students to submit to the LAD Fair is March 20, 2020.

Registration for the Middle School Writing Conference will open soon – be sure to take a moment to check out this year’s sessions. The earlier students register, the better chance they have to be placed in their top choices.

We look forward to seeing what students write for the Middle School Writing Conference and the LAD Fair.

Writing. Community. Power.

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Last year’s Middle School Writing Conference proved inspiring to say the least.

On the morning of Friday, May 10, 2019, the buzz of voices subsided with the house lights in the Plaster Student Union Theater.

Illuminated by the soft glow of the stage, hundreds of students leaned forward in their seats, eyes wide, several mouths agape, all submerged in a state of captivation.

Professional surfer Shaun Tomson’s voice, soft and unhurried, filled the room: “[a] single wave changed my life because once I made the commitment, once I took the extra strokes, once in my mind I knew I was gonna go over that edge, all the fear went away. I’ll take the drop of commitment and then if something goes wrong, I’ll paddle back out.”1 In sharing his experience with the world’s most dangerous wave, the Hawaiian Banzai Pipeline, Tomson empowered students to face the waves in their own lives.

After the presentation, middle schooler Harmony A. professed, “I feel like the message was so strong that it just resonated. It left me feeling like I can do anything.”2

Initially an effort to equip students from low-income and rural schools with college- and career-ready skills, our conferences have taken on an even greater importance. Students not only improve their writing but gain the confidence to set and achieve their goals, imagine and pursue their dreams.

 

1Shaun Tomson. (2018, May 19). Shaun Tomson: Live the Code [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE4BPC-UPqE

2Missouri State Arts and Letters. (2019, August 28). Middle School Writing Conference [Video file]. Retrieved from https://cwccc.missouristate.edu/mswc.htm

Douglass Day 2020

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Due to illness in our office, we had to cancel the Anna Julia Cooper transcribe-a-thon scheduled for February 14.

However, we still encourage you to take a moment to celebrate Douglass Day in-between exchanging valentines this Friday.

You ask. We deliver.

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The photos from Write Now showcase the joy of writing and community in the Ozarks. We want to thank our inspiring keynote speaker, Shaun Tomson, and dedicated presenters, as well as the amazing teachers and students in attendance. We could not have done it without each and every one of you and we look forward to doing it all again at the Middle School Writing Conference on Friday, May 8.

Our team recently reviewed feedback from the past couple years. Students asked for more sessions, teachers asked for their own, and we said YES! Students at the Middle School Writing Conference will attend three writing workshops, while teachers attend a couple sessions designed just for them.

We hope to see you in the spring – more details coming soon.