Delphian School Students Participate in NaNoWriMo For The 6th Year In A Row
Sheridan, Oregon (PRWEB) November 21, 2014 -- Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.
NaNoWriMo was founded by freelance writer Chris Baty, along with 20 friends, in 1999. From there the Young Writers Program was founded in 2005, in response to the countless teachers who wrote in wanting to bring noveling to the classroom.
Then in 2007, NaNoWriMo found its way to a private school in the hills of Oregon, where fourteen fearless students and five faculty members decided to embark on the adventure of writing a novel in one month. And they've been at it every year since, clocking in over seven million words so far.
In 2013, the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program counted:
-2,000 participating classrooms
-89,000 registered writers and educators
-92,000 total reach (comprising classroom participants + independent users)
In 2014, NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program expect to welcome over 500,000 authors writing novels in November. Delphian students and faculty are proud to be a part of that head count.
NaNoWriMo is incorporated into Delphian's extra curricular writing club. The program Moderator for Delphian's chapter of NaNoWriMo is run by faculty member, James Gailunas, who says that this time of year is always something the students look forward to with much anticipation--some of them plotting out their next noveling adventure months in advance.
Upper School teacher, Ken Potts, says of the event, “I can tell you that participating in NaNo ignites a student's passion for writing, stripping away the drudgery and stress that can be associated with writing for ‘school work’. The students write what they want to write, how they want to write it. It's a correction-free, 100% support and encouragement activity.” Potts mentions also that the students get to encourage each other, sharing their successes and supporting each other to continue to write.
“This ability and enjoyment in writing positively impacts a student's academics,” says Potts. “It's much harder to help a student write well if the student can't produce writing on their own because ‘it's hard’ or they ‘can't think of anything’. A student who has participated in NaNo, however, is more likely to write with ease in class, producing a quantity of writing that can then be coached to improve any weaknesses in mechanics.” Potts notes that NaNoWriMo leads to a stronger ability in writing, with the added benefit of making writing truly enjoyable as well.
Tkeisha Wydro, Delphian School, http://delphian.org, +1 503-843-3521, [email protected]
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