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More than 200 high school students attending Writing Day

April 19, 2007

KALAMAZOO--The ins and outs of writing and why it's important will come into sharper focus when more than 200 area high school students and their teachers take part in Writing Day on Friday, April 20, on the Western Michigan University campus.

The event is being put together by WMU's Third Coast Writing Project and is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English. Additional support is coming from the WMU Office of Admissions and the WMU Bookstore. Participating schools include Loy Norrix, Kalamazoo Central, Portage Northern, Portage Central, Gobles and the Portage Community Education Center.

This is the first such event at WMU. Activities will include a "writing marathon," during which students will work in small teams and write as they move around the campus. Each team will be guided by an advanced WMU English student with a strong interest and background in writing and teaching writing. Writing activities will be mostly creative and observational. Each guide will have a bag of writing ideas for the groups and a series of places where they can go, so participants will set the tone for the day.

"This year's event is a pilot, so we've invited teachers whose work we know and respect," says Dr. Jonathan Bush, associate professor of English and Third Coast Writing Project co-director. "We expect to make this an annual happening and are hoping it will become much larger."

The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Participants will arrive at the turnaround area at Miller Auditorium, where they will be met by a member of the WMU student host team. They will be led to Sangren Hall and then embark on their writing marathon.

For more information, contact Dr. Jonathan Bush, associate professor of English, at jbush@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2607.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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