“MHS the Write Way” aims to better prepare students for higher level writing according to district curriculum specialists. The students practice and become eligible for prizes.
“People in the community want us to know how to write,” associate principal Tamy Smalskas said. “It is a universal form of communication and everybody needs to know how to do it well.”
The writings are graded on 1 to 4 scale, the higher the person scores, the more tickets he will receive for each drawing. The drawings will be at the end of each month. In the first drawing, seniors can win an ad in the yearbook, juniors can win a class ring, sophomores can win a yearbook and freshmen can win McKinney paraphernelia.
“It’s not about the prize though,” Mrs. Smalskas said. “It’s about being able to write effectively and how it’s going to benefit you in the future.”
Administrators felt the TAKS standards were good, but believed the student body could achieve higher standards with more practice. Students are given a prompt, different for each grade level, every Friday. The final paper requires an estimated 30 minutes of writing and must be turned in to their English teachers on Tuesdays.
“It’s going to be cool, 2,130 students all writing for 30 minutes,” English department head, Brittany Southerland said. “Nobody can tell me that’s a bad thing.”
McKinney High is the first of the district schools to implement this program.
“I don’t know if others will follow, but I know it is important here that we write for 30 minutes,” principal Smalskas said.
The prompts are chosen by teachers, principals and even students who want to offer their opinions. Some prompts though, are not up to high school standards for some students.
“I think it’s a good idea,” sophomore Marcos Estrada said. “But the prompts are awful. It’s like the opposite of what teachers are teaching us to better prepare us for college.”
Completed essays are turned into their English teachers on Tuesday to be graded 1-4 on the thesis, overall writing and whatever area of writing the administration would like them to focus on that week.
“I don’t really see the point of emphasizing the thesis statement,” junior Ashley Harbor said. “These prompts are definitely creative-writing-driven like TAKS where usually no point blank thesis is needed.”
Most students were not happy about writing in their free time, but on the first due date 87 percent of students turned in essays. The students who did not turn one in were sent into the hall to the ‘writing corral’ and are monitored while completing their essays during class time.
“You still are required to make up the work you missed in class,” Mrs. Southerland said. “Whether it is in tutoring or for homework.”
A new policy added to the writing corral is after three offenses, students must attend Friday night school for four hours.
“I think it’s a little dramatic to add Friday night school,” Tate Mulligan said. “It would be a waste of time for the teacher and the student. If the student already didn’t do the essay three times they should just take a zero for it.”
by Jackie Harrison
