Junior secondary school students are busy carrying out the writing process in Young Writers Clubs in several locations now. Most are second-year JSS II students, and they are working on writing their true personal experiences. The students at UM Secondary School for Girls are having a rehearsing session, where everyone is drawing up a list of personal experience topics from her own life that she can write about. 
The club at Freetown Secondary School for Girls is doing peer content conferencing--one author is presenting her first draft to receive feedback on the content from those listening, to find out if what she has written makes sense to them, or needs more background information, and so on. 
SELI's Young Writers (most of whom are from Services JSS in Wilberforce) are drafting and revising--some preparing for a content conference, some for editing, but all busy on their own life experience topics. Club members find that analyzing their life experiences involves exploring their cultural backgrounds. Club leaders try to build confidence in the students, a community of learners, and a positive experience with teachers. We believe that this is the way to nurture responsible freedom of expression.
It is great to see the students from the three schools participating in the program. How much involvement do you have with the clubs during the school year? Do the teachers return with questions or are they finding they are prepared to lead the clubs?
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