The Writer’s Nest Tutors gather outside the library before their first session, on September 4th, 2018. The writing center is open Monday-Thursday during Eagle Half Time.

On September 4th, 2018, Olathe North High School officially opened its first writing center for peer review and writing.

Run by Deirdre Zongker and dubbed The Writers’ Nest, it is Olathe North’s first student writing center. Zongker was inspired by a trip to a writing center conference. The Writer’s Nest is now up and running.

The facility is ran by students from all demographics and is the first of its kind at Olathe North. Comprised of 54 members, the center has a large, teacher-approved staff.

“I have been stoked for this writing center for seven months,” Zongker expressed. Apparently, she isn’t alone, as the teachers in the building all wanted to promote the writing center so much that she ran out of posters to be put up in each classroom.

At first, the idea of the writing center seemed to be a lost cause, because people wouldn’t have time after school.

However, once Eagle Halftime rolled around, the prospects of having a writing center improved. People had free time to do whatever they needed to do during Eagle Halftime, including visiting classrooms, eating lunch, and going to club meetings. This year, people could add a visit the writing center to receive help on writing to that list. The students are able to receive help from their peers in a non-judgmental environment, improve their writing, and obtain help in the areas they need by people who are pr

oficient in writing.
To use the Writers’ Nest, students walk into the library and head to the center area. They need to have a printed copy of their assignment ready. Then, write their name on the sign in sheet, fill out the status of the paper, (prewriting, writing, or editing) and wait to be seated. Once seated next to the tutor, the session will begin. The stu- dent will leave with a sheet covering your strengths in the paper and areas to work

on, creating a plan to edit your paper. “[The first day] was slow but I am anticipating more students as teachers start assigning bigger projects.” Molly Duke, an executive on the tutoring team,

spoke on the writing center’s first day. Along with being a tutor, she also helps to teach her peers. This all began when she and another student, Renee Born, were approached by Zongker to be on a board to help teach other tutors. During these learning experiences Duke had one main point. “Instructing others requires an understanding of who you are working with, and most importantly requires great organization skills.”

In the end, the Writing Center is considered easy to use. Along with being a valuable asset to the school, it will also be able to grow and develop to better itself for all students and teachers involved.