Writers in the Schools
Writers in the Schools (WITS) Program
Writers in the Schools (WITS) is a grant and gift-supported program developed in 2007 as an outreach program designed to give local high school students an opportunity to explore creative writing. WITS also provides funds and teaching experience to UCR Palm Desert Center students earning an MFA degree in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts.
The program consists of eight-week workshops with structured creative writing exercises led by the MFA students in high school English classes. In the last two years WITS has been in all three of the K-12 school districts in the Coachella Valley and at Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert.
In 2009 the program reached more than 550 students at five high schools in 16 different English classes. An anthology of the students' work is produced each year prior to the "Emerging Writers Showcase," an annual event that features the high school students reading their work and a reception for the teachers, students and their parents at UCR Palm Desert Center.
We are currently looking for additional funding to help expand WITS in 2011-2012. For more information about this program, contact (760) 834-0928 or tod.goldberg@ucr.edu
The University of California has been active in the Coachella Valley for nearly 100 years, initially supporting the agriculture industry and more recently impacting modern growth issues through research in areas such as transportation, air quality, and energy and water conservation. The UCR Palm Desert Center, established in 2005, provides graduate education to the Coachella Valley through its innovative Executive MBA and MFA degrees.