How to Get a 7th Grader to Write… in the Summer

April 1, 2013

Seventh grade. Essays. Summer school.  Any middle school kid might consider these to be various forms of short-term punishment.

But for over 500 New Jersey middle school students, essays are no longer the stuff of ruined weekends and vengeful English teachers. These kids have written essays voluntarily, in the summer or after school, and liked it. How is this possible? Enter Byron Yake, retired AP sports editor and founder of Write on Sports, a nonprofit academic program that introduces New Jersey middle school students to the world of sports writing.

After spending a career in the news business, Yake was ready for a different kind of challenge.

“I had the idea, if we could teach kids how to write about sports we could teach kids how to write” says Yake. “It’s a way to build skills on a student’s passion for sports.”

Now in its eighth year of operation, Write on Sports hosted four summer writing camps last year and today holds several after-school programs in which students delve into the many facets of professional sports writing.

Camp activities feature special guests like ESPN NBA analyst Chris Broussard of South Orange and former Montclair State University basketball standout and WNBA executive Carol Blazejowski.  Students interview athletes, sports writers and broadcasters in mock press conferences and then turn that information into stories and videos. The program includes field trips so that students get a chance to interview athletes in realistic settings. Recent visits have included the Red Bulls soccer team and Newark Bears and New Jersey Jackals minor league baseball games.

While the program focuses mainly on developing writing and communication skills, Yake explains that it doesn’t stop there:

“For one student, he or she might not really seem to be making much progress in writing, but suddenly you see progress and self-confidence. That simple thing of standing up and saying, ‘My name is…. What is your batting average….? Or what was it like to get hit in the game..?’ You build self-confidence by researching a subject and asking that person a question while looking at them in the eye and turning that into a story or blog or video. There’s much more to the program than just building writing skills.”

What’s more, Write on Sports programs are tuition free. Thanks to a Blue Sky Initiative grant from CFNJ, the organization recently launched an after-school program in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Newark.

Are you ready to bring this program to your community? Click here to access your fund in DonorCentral. 

Write on Sports students are recommended by a teacher or principal at participating schools. Yake encourages teachers to recruit kids who they think would benefit most from the program – kids with promise who just need that extra spark that a program like Write on Sports can offer. One such student, Kevin Lopez, said that Write on Sports taught him to no longer fear a blank piece of paper. He is now a full-scholarship freshman at Princeton University.