Scholars who participate earn a free jeans day pass, and the class with the highest percentage of students who participate earns an extra recess and their teacher earns extra planning time.
Recently, sixth graders were asked to write about a difficult choice they’ve had to make, and one student’s writing stood out. Amelia Parry was faced with the choice of joining a new martial arts team or staying with her current team.
“I was really anxious because both options had their own pros and cons to make a decision,” Parry wrote in her piece. “I tried to use wisdom, which means to carefully make smart choices. First, I thought about why I wanted to join the new team. I knew it could help me learn new things and meet new people, but staying on my old team meant I could continue playing with my friends and stay in a place I’m familiar with.”
Samples of the writing prompts given to scholars.
Parry continued with an explanation of the steps she took to make her decision, including speaking to her friends and parents and creating a list of pros and cons. She eventually decided to try the new team and realized an added benefit.
“My cousin and other friends I didn’t know went there,” she said. “We have a performance soon, and I am almost an orange belt!”
Parry went on to say she thought others could possibly learn something from how she made her decision, that they could take her words to mind and apply them to their lives. Her favorite part of writing is redoing her work; editing what she’s written to make it better. She hopes one day to be an author of graphic novels.
Walton Writing Instructional Coach Kylie Lock was impressed with Parry’s ability to make an informed decision based on the questions she asked herself.
Some of the at-home writing challenge submissions.
“She's a sixth grader! Amelia’s one that’s been doing the Moral Focus Writing Contest, coming up with an entry for our school since she was in fourth grade,” Lock said. “Her writing has grown so much; she really cares about it. She works hard and you can really see her growth in what she's writing. So, for me, that's been very exciting.”
Their first writing challenge of the school year was in September and drew over 150 participants.
“The idea is that we really want to partner with parents,” Lock said. “Parents are supposed to sign it and read what their kids wrote. So, it encourages that parent-student cooperation outside the classroom.”
Congratulations on encouraging students to write, Walton!
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About Walton Charter Academy
Walton Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Pontiac, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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