I believe that writing can be powerful. Not the follow-the-guidelines, meet the criteria, formulaic kind of writing, but writing that allows us to feel or think. Watching students evolve as writers is an interesting process. Some children focus on grammar usage, vocabulary variety, and content development and organization. Those are good goals. The challenge is to build these skills while also keeping the author’s voice. The sweet spot with developing writers is a piece that goes beyond just structure or syntax, but also offers a truth that is refreshing, real, and connects the reader to that piece. That is when writing is truly powerful. That is the kind of writing we cultivate at GUS.

Over the years, I have seen different students pick up old copies of MindSpill and smile and share with classmates. My own children (now in high school) still look through their black books and reminisce about what their third grade selves wrote. They appreciate that as younger students, there was still an intention to their writing, even if they’ve grown to be different, more proficient writers each year. There is power in knowing you can put anything down on paper and allow it to be shared, even if the strength of each piece has room for improvement. For a young writer, that is the perfect place to start.

GUS students write often during their school experience, and they learn to share with an audience. This time of year, you need to clear the family calendar for all kinds of writing occasions. Second graders hosted a poetry cafe in the greenhouse. Fifth graders envisioned themselves as pioneers and wrote journal entries from the perspective of life on the Oregon Trail. Seventh graders have decided on a piece of writing from the year to read aloud at their annual writing celebration. The night before graduation, eighth graders will culminate their time at GUS sharing “This, I Believe” speeches with the community. 

In all of these experiences, we feel not just the power in their words, but also the strength in the sharing. Something resonates with the audience: we don’t just hear the words, we are touched by them. Often it is less about what has been written, but more about the actual interaction between writers and their audience. Students know it is part of what we do at GUS. They put themselves in the spotlight. They take a chance, they try to improve, grow confidence, and connect with the audience through their words. They commit to sharing their work. That’s powerful. You can’t attend one of these moments at GUS without sensing something big is happening. 

It is times like these that students are responsible for uniting us as a community. Through every challenge, faltering moment, and success, we are there and we are rooting for them. We laugh, we empathize, we connect. We need these moments. Over time, there have been endless examples of disconnected communities. We see it through the political lens, through the impact of Covid, through social media rants, and we see children more frequently needing guidance on how to be a friend, how to connect with others, how to be respectful, how to be a community member. In the moments that we come together to celebrate writing, what we are really celebrating is the students at their most vulnerable; we are there as a community, cheering them on, and the more they share, they become more at ease doing it and the messages, like the writing, grow increasingly mature.

The writing that resonates with me the most from GUS students is the work that has heart and truth. It finds the core of that person, whether it is funny, serious, snarky, confused, insecure, or vulnerable, and shares just that. The difference is palpable. I’ve learned a lot over the years from my students through their writing and the words that they have shared. I am most humbled by and appreciative of them when they are honest and true to themselves. It doesn’t matter if they stumble or fumble, it matters that they reached out and offered their words.

With this truth and honesty at the core of all writing, the syntax, grammar, and idea development come along as they practice and learn, but that sharing of their true selves, that takes guts. I love the writing that happens through the years at GUS. The muddled batch of idea starts and stops, the unpolished drafts, the final versions, all of these are a part of the GUS story. I’ve been honored to have had the chance to offer a few prompts, feedback, and ultimately, to be a part of a community of writers.