"Works" Recognized
The inaugural edition of Works in Progress: An Anthology of Middle School Creative Work at Burroughs claimed "First Place with Special Merit" and "Most Outstanding Middle School Literary Art Magazine for 2011" in the American Scholastic Press Association's Annual Scholastic Yearbook and Magazine Awards for 2010-11.*
Faculty sponsor Ellie DesPrez (English) says, "Through my work with middle school English students, I became interested in starting a club devoted to encouraging and publishing middle school creative writing and art." Head of School Andy Abbott liked the idea, and at the end of spring 2010, then seventh-graders Grace Haselhorst and Isabelle Appleton submitted the charter to Congress for the Middle School Creative Writing Club. Works in Progress debuted in spring 2011.
About two dozen students are involved in the club. "Our meeting times are largely limited to 15 minutes after lunch, which can make it challenging to move things forward, but the students are full of energy and enthusiasm," says Dr. DesPrez. A few students — Maddy Smith, Charlotte Wiland and Madeleine Johnson — have emerged as de facto leaders, but in general, all student participants have the same role: to encourage each other in their creative writing, to submit original work and to encourage other students to do the same.
Dr. DesPrez says the goal is for Works in Progress to be as inclusive and representative of middle student creative work as possible. "In most cases, work is simply self-selected by students who submit. In some cases, club members or I provide some editorial suggestions before publication. Essentially, if a middle school student wants to share his or her work in Works in Progress, our goal is to help him or her do that. The range exhibited in the final production reflected that fact."
To see a copy of the first edition of "Works in Progress," visit the JBS library.
*The Review, the literary and art publication for students in grades 7 through 12, claimed "First Place with Special Merit" honors in its division.
