SSWCUP Utah
Our secondary school writing center university partnership envisions a network of support for peer writing centers in area secondary schools. This network includes possibilities for professionalization, leadership, and collaboration among participants at a range of levels. Current members of our partnership include BYU students in the writing center and the English teaching program; secondary school teachers, tutors, and student writers; university faculty researchers; and larger organizations, including The Secondary School Writing Centers Association and the Central Utah Writing Project,
Overview of SSWCs and the BYU SSWCUP Project
Our Partners
Research and Writing Center – The BYU Research and Writing Center (RWC) provides a supportive and research-rich environment where trained student writing consultants collaborate with their peers to increase awareness, abilities, and confidence in any part of the research and writing process. An integral part of SSWCUP, RWC consultants collaborate and interface with secondary school directors and tutors in a variety of ways, from helping design resources for trainings to organizing and guiding field trips.
Learn more at rwc.byu.edu
English Teaching – The BYU English Education program prepares students to teach in secondary school classrooms by providing them with pedagogy-focused courses and classroom teaching experiences. Many of the students in this program work as writing consultants in the RWC, and their experience with both writing center work and secondary schools creates a unique contribution to SSWCUP.
Learn more at: https://english.byu.edu/english-teaching
Central Utah Writing Project – The Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP) is a community of teachers committed to promoting the teaching of writing at all levels and across all disciplines, and to investigate and practice effective writing habits and strategies.
Learn more at https://utahteacherswrite.org/
Secondary School Writing Centers Association / Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools – The Secondary School Writing Center Association (SSWCA) is a national network of secondary school writing centers directed by an elected Executive Board made up of writing center directors and tutors whose mission is to build community among, promote advocacy for, and support development of secondary school writing and learning centers. The Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools (JPTSS) is a SSWCA-published, peer-reviewed journal seeking thought-provoking pieces that explore questions related to secondary school peer tutoring.
Learn more at https://sswca.org/ and https://sswca.org/journal/
Secondary School Partners – While secondary school writing centers come in various shapes, sizes and stages of development, they revolve around a commitment to collaborative learning and peer-to-peer support. Below is an overview of secondary school writing centers in Utah who are currently involved in the partnership.
The Copper Hills High School Writing Center was founded in 2018 and is now directed by Hillary Hermansen. The center is currently called “The Michelle Szetela Center For Learning And Writing” and has the motto of “Helping Grizzlies one claw at a time.” The Lab is open to students during lunch and a free hour on Fridays.
For more information, contact Hillary Hermansen.
For more information, contact Dave O’Very, Katherine Price, or Jennifer Brodrick.
The Orem High School Writing Center, founded in 2021, is a student-led, teacher-directed writing center in Orem, Utah. English teachers Brian Ellingford and Andrea Haverlock direct the center, and there are 32 student writing tutors. The writing center serves students during the school’s flex time and there are training meetings held twice a month during lunch. Writing Tutors from BYU involved in SSWCUP visit tutors during bi-monthly training meetings to observe sessions and provide mentorship.
For more information, contact Brian Ellingford or Andrea Haverlock.
The Provo High School Writing Center, founded in the 2022-2023 school year, is a student-led, teacher-directed writing center at a suburban high school in Provo, Utah. The founding director, English teacher Rachel Cutler, led a team of 16 tutors in the inaugural year, and worked closely with BYU writing tutors and English Teaching undergraduate students to develop training materials, leadership, scaffolding, and other resources.
For more information, contact Rachel Cutler.
The Skyridge Writing Center is a student-led, teacher-directed writing center, founded in 2023. Regan Gull directs the center and there are 26 student writing fellows. The writing center operates Monday through Friday during SKYtimes and after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Once a month there is a training meeting for all writing fellows.
For more information, contact Regan Gull.
For more information, contact David Ochs.
Our Partner Locations
What We Offer
SSWCUP connects local peer writing centers at the secondary and university level to create opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, resource development, and programmatic support. SSWCUP is designed to give secondary school writing center directors and tutors a chance to connect, consult, and collaborate with new and seasoned writing center practitioners.
CONNECT
- Regular contact with other SSWCs
- Monthly director’s meetings
- Annual Peer Tutor Conference Day
CONSULT
- Individual conferences with experienced WC folks
- Help drafting a proposal for a new SSWC
- Training in WC foundations: pedagogy, administration, operations, assessment, marketing, multilingual writing support, or writing across the curriculum programs
COLLABORATE
- School-based tutor trainings by university writing center tutor consultants
- Site visits & tutor demonstrations
- Field trip to see a university center in action
- Resource development
Want to Get Involved?
BYU Contacts
English Education
A former SSWC director, Dr. Amber Jensen co-founded the Secondary School Writing Centers Association and is the founding editor of The Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools. At BYU, she teaches preservice English teachers and researches secondary school writing centers, digital and multimodal writing and literacies, and composition pedagogy. She also directs the Central Utah Writing Project.
Writing Center
Dr. Tyler Gardner directs the University Writing Center at BYU. An advocate for the magic of collaborative learning, he is excited to share the experience and resources of the BYU Research and Writing Center with local secondary schools looking to build or sustain their own collaborative learning programs.
Writing Consultants
BYU undergraduate students are enthusiastic about working in the RWC’s outreach program and collaborating with local secondary schools. All participating students are experienced writing tutors, and many of them are also English teaching majors. The group of participating tutors varies each semester as students come and go in the writing center, but they are always led by a student administrator who helps facilitate communication with secondary school partners.
Our History
Our secondary school writing center university partnership originated with a connection between BYU and the neighboring Provo High School (PHS). In the spring of 2022, undergraduates Quinn Blackley and Braden Slater were working as editorial assistants for Dr. Amber Jensen on The Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools. Through her involvment with the Central Utah Writing Project, Dr. Jensen learned of PHS’s interest in starting a writing center, and collaborated with Qunn and Braden on ways to support Provo High in the process. In addition to being English teaching majors, Quinn and Braden also both worked as writing consultants in the BYU Research & Writing Center and pitched their ideas to Dr. Tyler Gardner, who enthusiastically offered the RWC’s support for the project, including sharing resources, hosting field trips, and providing writing consultant visits. Encouraged and equipped with university support, including an undergraduate research grant, they connected with Rachel Cutler, a new PHS English teacher, and a former student of Dr, Jensen who was interested in helping PHS develop a writing center.
After a few months of planning and preparation, Rachel Cutler recruited PHS students and began working towards launching a writing center. Once the new school year started, BYU writing consultants began visiting the high school writing tutors twice a month to support the budding center by leading trainings on writing tutoring practices. This collaboration with PHS initiated connections and conversations with other local writing centers at Orem High and Copper Hills High, which launched the idea of a more organized partnership that could bring people together and form a network of support.