SCSC > Student Outreach: Young Writers & Artists Conference
 

2009 Young Writers & Artists Conference

Nearly 1,000 students and chaperones from area schools attended the 2009 Young Writers & Authors Conference (YWAC) on March 10-12. A special thank you to Bethany Lutheran College for hosting the Young Writers & Artists Conference and to the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council (PLRAC). This year’s conference was partially funded by a grant from PLRAC with an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature. We would also like to thank the Betsy-Tacy Society for their partnership efforts, which contributed to the success of the conference.

Area authors, educators, and experienced writers and artists inspired area students and encouraged them to take their talent to new levels. This year’s conference combined the Fine Arts Conference and Young Writer’s Conference into a new three-day format. March 10 and 11 were open to grades 3-6. March 12 was open to grades 7-9, with longer advanced sessions.

On March 10 and 11, the opening presentation featured local author Jill Kalz. Kalz is the author of nearly 50 children’s books including the “Tuckerbean” beginning reader series and the picture book “Farmer Cap,” which was the recipient of the 2008 Minnesota Book Awards Readers' Choice Award. In addition to the opening presentation, students selected three age-appropriate sessions from 24 hands-on opportunities to explore a variety of subjects related to writing and creative arts.

The Mankato West Jazz Band kicked off day three of the conference on March 12. With their toe-tapping opener, the band put everyone in the mood for a creative and educational day, during which students in grades 7-9 attended three advanced sessions of their choice.

Students were able to choose from a remarkable range of mediums and topics including: character development, persuasive speech, storytelling, improvisational acting, scrapbooking, bookmaking, watercolor, floral design, spoken word poetry and numerous ‘how to’ sessions that taught pre-writing, plot development, story mapping, precise adjective use, editing, and foreshadowing. We could not have held this conference without the thriving, active and competent writers and artists who devoted their time to teaching and motivating area students.

Also new this year was an array of professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers or other interested parties that wanted to improve their instructional content and pedagogy. Teachers were able to take effective, creative and engaging techniques back to the classroom.

The Book Shelf of Winona returned this year to coordinate the book fair, which featured presenting authors’ books as well as other popular titles. Conference presenters signed their books during lunch and in their sessions.

(Click on each photo to see a larger view!)

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