Young Writers Camp, a nonprofit program of the South Coast Writing Project at UC Santa Barbara, has announced plans to expand its reach in 2016 by offering new programs and a new location: a high school Playwriting Workshop and middle school Digital Writing camp at UC Santa Barbara and a fourth- through ninth-grade program at Jonata Middle School in Buellton.

In addition, YWC is actively pursuing community support for scholarship funds through a GoFundMe campaign.

Now in its 27th year, the camp has traditionally been offered to incoming third through ninth graders with the aim of providing students access to the best and most inspiring writing instruction available.

In 2016, the camp’s open enrollment sessions across four locations from Thousand Oaks to Buellton anticipate serving nearly 300 students.

A typical day at camp includes daily journal writing and structured writing workshops, including time for peer mentor groups, which lead to a deeper understanding of the writing process and what it means to be a part of a writing community as students engage in a broad spectrum of fiction and nonfiction that may include a variety of genres, from poetry to narrative, expository to memoir, and more.

Walking field trips and guest author presentations are also incorporated to provide a rich set of experiences to write from. On the final day of camp, families are welcomed for a potluck celebration where writers read their published work from a camp anthology.

The camps are loosely modeled on practices the teachers have engaged in themselves. Every group of 20-25 students is co-taught by two teachers who have participated in the intensive month-long SCWriP Summer Institute, deepening their understanding of the art of teaching writing while also honing their own writing skills.  

Amada Irma Perez, an acclaimed local author, exemplifies the power of this process and typifies the high caliber of instruction students receive.

After 25 years in the classroom, she penned her first book during the 1998 Summer Institute. Since then, she has taught or presented to over 30 sessions of YWC camps and published multiple children’s books.

“The magic of camp is most apparent at the end, when kids who were barely writing a paragraph at the start are turning out multiple pages,” commented Perez. “The kids begin to view themselves as writers and walk away more confident in their writing skills and ability.”

The high school Playwriting Workshop at UCSB shifts the model of camp a bit by focusing on one genre.

Every student will walk away having authored their own play under the expert guidance of Phil Levien and David Holmes, local Santa Barbara legends who led the San Marcos High School drama program until 2014, when both men retired from teaching — Levien after 20 years, Holmes after more than 30 — to continue their acting careers.

The other new offering at UCSB, Digital Writing, doesn’t so much shift the model as expand upon it. Students will still engage in all the fun and inspirational variety of writing genres Young Writers Camps are known for (and will still have a physical journal to write with paper and pen), but will also incorporate 21st-century types of composing, which might include creating blogs, videos or other digital technologies that enhance and expand on the writing process.

Also new this year is a camp for fourth through ninth graders at Jonata Middle School in Buellton, the first time this school will be partnering with UCSB on a YWC program.

“I see this as an opportunity to cultivate a community of writers, both in our district and in the Santa Ynez Valley,” stated Jonata principal Jerry Cradduck. “It will also benefit our students by extending learning opportunities through the summer.”

A final new effort this year is the first ever campaign for community support. The first half of the campaign focused on raising funds through a benefit reading, held Monday, March 14, 2016, at San Marcos High School with the school’s Writers’ Society to raise scholarship funds for the new Playwriting Workshop.

The next phase is a GoFundMe Campaign, where contributors can earn prizes like YWC t-shirts, personalized work from students and more. To contribute, go to gofundme.com/u4f5eppw. The campaign goal is to raise $4,000, enough to provide full and partial scholarships to at least 15 campers in 2016.

An early bird registration rate of $275 is available through April 30 for all camps, after which the price increases to $295 until registration closes June 15. Sibling discounts, scholarships and school group discounts are available.

All skill levels are welcome, with the main prerequisite being a love of writing, or at minimum an openness to learning about writing.

Application materials are due June 15 and can be downloaded from the SCWriP website. For more information or help with registration, call Young Writers Camp office manager Lisseth Murillo at 805.893.5899 or email youngwriters@education.ucsb.edu.

For more information about parent orientations and camp sessions, visit scwrip.wordpress.com.

— Nicole Wald is the director of Young Writers Camp.