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Summer Ink Introduction Over the years, we’ve often been asked about Summer Ink’s “secret sauce.” After all, campers arrive at the doors to Simmons College each summer with a range of skills and emotions: some eager to write, others cringing at the prospect of putting pen to paper; some writing short stories, others working on fundamental grammar and sentence structure. By the end of each two- week session, a remarkable transformation has occurred. We see an energized community of writers invested in their own writing and supportive of those around them. When an activity ends, we watch campers grab pens and flip to a clean page of their journals. We see furrowed brows as campers concentrate and compose. What inspires the transformation? A marvelous staff of educators dedicated to making writing fun; a positive, playful atmosphere that encourages social and academic risk-taking, a rock solid writing curriculum—The Writers’ Express Method™, and a sense of spontaneity that infuses each camp day. We are proud to present the 2015 Summer Ink Collection, a tribute to the learning and excitement of this past season. In these pages you will find samples of each Summer Ink camper’s work, with two types of writing represented. Journal entries are short bursts of writing in which campers immediately capture in words their reactions to an experience. In these raw, spontaneous entries campers practice adding focus and vivid detail to their writing to convey a unique perspective. The polished piece gives campers an opportunity to organize their thoughts into a longer, more complex presentation, put a variety of writing skills to work at once, and of course, fix grammatical and spelling errors in preparation for publication. Whether it’s making the winning shot in basketball, feeding dough through a pasta-making machine, or back-paddling to avoid crashing a canoe, the campers capture in writing the energy and fun of the camp day and their unique reactions to it. While most Summer Ink campers come from Boston and surrounding suburbs, this year we had campers from as far away as Hawaii and central Asia. Our campers attend public, private, and charter schools, and some are home-schooled. They are of varied racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, and come from diverse economic circumstances. We relish this rich mix of backgrounds because it challenges campers to reach beyond the comfortable and take social risks. Campers bonded over rock climbing, drumming, tossing Frisbees, and tasting new foods, and you’ll see those new friendships reflected in this collection. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the writing. Vicki L. Krupp Executive Director Summer Ink August 2015 Summer Ink is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its mission is to give all students the power to explore their ideas, the skills to communicate them clearly, and the conviction that the world wants to hear them. The Summer Ink Board of Directors Arthur Unobskey, President David Summergrad, Secretary Lori Johnson, Treasurer Jean Birnberg Michael Faigen Carey Schwartz Paula Sinclair David West Janine Woelki © Copyright 2015, Summer Ink, Inc., 946 Great Plain Avenue, #196, Needham, MA 02492. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form, or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of Summer Ink, Inc. Layout and design of The Collection by ElizaBeth Swenson Cover art created by ElizaBeth Swenson Printed in the United States of America Acknowledgments Many thanks to the following people and organizations for the Alex Caulfield, Hannah Cheyney, Jane Ritt, Emma Sunog, numerous ways in which they helped make our 2015 summer Andrew Tegeler, and Ethan Weiss, for typing journal entries. programs so successful: Summer Ink program directors and counselors, who Our major funders, including AGM Summer Fund, The Gustave demonstrated an incredible commitment to our campers, G. and Valla Amsterdam Foundation, The Staples Foundation giving them tools to become better writers while ensuring that for Learning, Michael Faigen, and Carey Schwartz. campers had fun in the process. All donors who contributed to the Scholarship Fund over the course of the year. Program Leaders: Sandra Bergantz, Simmons Program Lead Instructor Our educational partners: Classroom Teacher, Hardy School, Arlington Bates Elementary School, Roslindale Andrea Clawson, Simmons Program Lead Instructor Blackstone Elementary School, South End Classroom Teacher, Dennett Elementary School, Brooke Charter Schools Plympton Conservatory Lab Charter School, Brighton Kendra Dean, Simmons Program Lead Instructor Match Charter Public Middle School, Jamaica Plain Special Education Teacher, McGlynn Middle School, Mother Caroline Academy, Dorchester Medford Steps to Success, Brookline Jessica Keweshan, Simmons Program Lead Instructor UP Academy, Boston Classroom Teacher, Ottoson Middle School, Arlington Winter Hill Community Innovation School, Somerville. John Lewis, Boston & Beyond Lead Instructor Classroom Teacher, Wilmington High School Nicole Vanderpol, Lauren Murray, and the staff of Simmons Senior Counselors: College Conferences and Special Events, for accommodating Rachel Butler, Washington University at Saint Louis our requests for space on campus. Megan Huth, School Social Worker, Malden High School Keller McGuinness, Inclusion Associate, Codman Academy, Dr. Edward Levy, our Health Care Consultant, whose medical Boston oversight ensured the health and safety of all of our campers Gabe Putnam, Wheaton College and staff. Maia Raber, Classroom Teacher, Concord-Carlisle High School Pat Scully, for her expert trainings on The Writers’ Express Damian Romney, Classroom Teacher, UP Academy, Boston Method.™ Kayla Sharpe, Classroom Teacher, Dean Luce Elementary School, Canton Katie Liesener for editing The Collection and ElizaBeth Swenson Ryan Shrey, Instructional Assistant, Watertown Middle for creating its layout, graphic design, and cover art. School Emily Wood, Classroom Teacher, Stoughton High School ElizaBeth Swenson for designing Summer Ink’s 2015 T-shirt. Summer Ink 3 Junior Counselors: Ellora Sen, St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH Izzy Sinclair, Gann Academy, Waltham Kendall McGowan, Brookline High School Marquis Miller, Brookline High School Zoe Reck, Friends School of Baltimore Seth Coven, Washington University at Saint Louis Alix Kalaher, Emerson College Kyla Hullum, Bridgewater State University Vanessa Chin, University of California, Los Angeles Saskia Randle, Barnard College Maya Fernandez, American University Theresa Walsh, Saint Michael’s College Molly Rookwood, University of Kings College Andrew Tegeler, Tufts University The organizations, institutions, and professionals who led our students in stimulating activities: Building Circus, Charles River Canoe and Kayak, Eastern Mountain Sports Schools, Future Chefs, theater arts instructor Naheem Garcia, dance instructor Jennifer Jarvis, Dee Morris and the Forest Hills Educational Trust, art instructor Ellen Moskowitz, New England School of Photography, Peabody Essex Museum, Sara Peattie of The Puppeteers Cooperative, Marcus Santos of Grooversity, Sinha Capoeira, Stonybrook Fine Arts, Boston Globe reporter Beth Teitell, Trapeze School New York—Boston, Yao Li of Boston Kung Fu and Tai Chi Institute, and yoga instructor Laura Villalobos. Rebecca Smerling of Boston Harbor Island Alliance and Cheryl Desantis of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, for making our outings to Spectacle Island possible. Athletic instructors Alex Caulfield, Ethan Weiss, and Yamiles Urena. The Simmons Aquatics Center—in particular Mindy Williams— who helped ensure the safety of our campers while they had fun in the pool. Paige Cameron, Jeremy Marcus, Saul Nuñez, and Leo Reynoso, for lifeguarding our beach outings. 4 Summer Ink Editor’s Note The Collection is comprised of four categories of writing: journal entries, essays, short stories, and travel essays. Journal Entries. In both camps—The Simmons Program and Boston & Beyond—the campers wrote journal entries on a daily basis. In this form of writing, campers responded to a prompt that asked them to focus on a particular moment of an activity they had just undertaken. Because of the spontaneous format, campers were able to freely experiment with such skills as dialogue or sensory detail without the pressure of organizing their thoughts for a reader. In addition to journal entries, campers in both camps had the opportunity to revise and expand upon their journal entries to create what are called, in the vernacular of camp, “polished pieces.” Simmons campers had the choice of writing one of two kinds of polished piece—either an essay or a short story. Boston & Beyond campers, however, wrote only one kind of polished piece— the travel essay. Essays. Those Simmons campers who chose to expand on a journal entry that described their actual experience, wrote an essay—a true account that shows how a particular moment in real life affected their inner world. Short Stories. Other Simmons campers chose to expand on a journal entry that dabbled in fictional techniques—either the character sketch (which required campers to construct an imaginary character) or an entry written from an inanimate object’s point of view. The short story, then, is defined by the presence of a fictionalized character. Travel Essays. Like the Simmons campers, Boston & Beyond campers also created their polished pieces from the raw material of a journal entry. Unlike the Simmons