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Middle School Writing Lab

The new Foote School Middle School Writing Lab is the next step in sparking creativity. It's a way for our young writers to gain confidence, defy limits, and find the space and support they need to become their most authentic selves. 

Background

The Foote School Writing Lab officially opened September 24. This new opportunity for Middle School students is a result of fundraising efforts by Class of 2026 parents, who raised money for the creation of the lab. 

How it works

The Middle School Humanities Department will be leading the space, alongside other writing faculty. Middle school students can visit the lab every Wednesday during study hall to get help and feedback on class assignments and work on their own creative writing pieces. In addition, funding for this initiative will provide faculty enrichment opportunities.

Highlights

Faculty & Staff Development

Dr. Claire Bowern, a historical linguist at Yale University, brought her depth of expertise to our Humanities Department. Dr. Bowern's scholarship centers on the intersection of history, culture, and justice. Her visit sparked rich conversation around two important topics: the linguistic frameworks behind our use of No Red Ink, our online punctuation tool, and the history and practice of the land acknowledgement.

Maggie Roberts of Kate and Maggie Literacy Consultants (West Hartford) led our teachers through an engaging, hands-on professional development workshop on reading group strategies, vocabulary matrix practice, and summary writing form techniques — equipping our teachers with concrete, classroom-ready skills they could bring back to students immediately.

Student Enrichment
 

The investment in students was equally remarkable. Porsha Olayiwola — Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, founder of the Roxbury Poetry Festival, and a spoken word poet whose work fuses Afro-futurism and surrealism to illuminate the Black, women's, and queer diasporas — conducted two powerful workshops with Foote's ninth graders. Students dove into two poetic forms — the ghazal and the monostitch; several of the poems will be showcased in the upcoming Poetry Cabaret.

We plan to work with students on personal narratives and application essays; we hope to bring in local writers to talk about their process and work with students; and we hope to host professional development workshops for Middle School Humanities teachers.

In the lab