Center for Writing and Critical Thinking

Berkshire School’s new Center for Writing and Critical Thinking offers students individual assistance with their writing, as well as weekly, form-specific faculty forums, and the opportunity to utilize a space that is exclusively dedicated to writers and to writing.  Writing Center consultants are eager to provide assistance with class assignments from any discipline, college application essays, and other independent writing projects, with the goal to offer students the assistance they require to best put forth their own ideas. Center volunteers will not ‘fix’ papers, but will assist students in finding the clearest way to make a point, develop an idea, and create a cohesive piece of writing. Thus, students will develop their own voices, even as they learn the most effective way to communicate through the written word. The Center will host faculty forums – interactive presentations on a variety of topics related to writing and critical thinking – on a weekly basis throughout the year. Students will, for example, have the opportunity to solve logic puzzles with Mr. Splawn, get assistance with their college essays from Ms. Geerhold, and deconstruct contemporary advertising with Mr. Miller. These forums will include a short introduction, followed by a longer interactive section, designed to allow students to experience the topic at hand. In addition, they will be filmed and put on the web site, so that those students who cannot be there but are interested will be able to ‘attend’ on their own time. Click here for the Fall Forum schedule. Finally, the Center houses Berkshire’s literary and arts journal, The Dome, and provides space for student book clubs, independent writing groups, and presentations by visiting writers. Click here to view the Spring 2009 Dome.  Location: deWindt Dining Room, Benson Commons Extension: (413) 229-1024 Email: cwct@berkshireschool.org Evening Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 8-10 pm Daytime Hours: Monday: G period Tuesday: H and F periods Wednesday: A period Thursday: D and B periods Faculty Staff: Virginia Watkins (Director), AJ Kohlhepp, Lucia Mulder, Nannie Clough Student Staff: Colin Puth (Coordinator), Lizzy Steiner (Coordinator), Shannon Nelson (Coordinator), Emily Perry, Chris Wickham, Tim McErlean, Maura McGovern, Sharnae Moore, Amanda Lees, Viola Clark-El, Kit Landry, Randy Reyes

The new Center for Writing and Critical Thinking is led by Berkshire faculty member, Virginia Watkins. Ms. Watkins teaches Sixth Form Advanced English and creative writing and is the faculty coordinator of The Dome, Berkshire’s literary and arts journal. She has also taught English, writing, creative writing, and ESL at the college level. Her interest in writing centers began at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she obtained an MFA in Creative Writing, and continued through her college teaching career.