During the summer of 2020, The Main Street Academy’s (TMSA) 5th grade scholars, Kaleb Lewis and Jovaughn Recasner, Jr., were two of 50 students, primarily from the Fulton County Schools district, who participated in an Extensive Writers Workshop for 5th – 11th grade students. The summer writing workshop, consisted of a series of week-long sessions, headed by Dr. Chantrise Holliman, a retired Fulton County Schools educator.
The workshop, which occurred during the height of a global pandemic and racial bias, offered students a medium to express their voices – to communicate their words verbally and written. At the onset of the workshop, students learned and discussed current events, such as the pandemic and racial bias, and conducted research. Discovery and research were shortly followed by the students learning different types of writing (narrative, argumentative and persuasive).
Dr. Holliman was impressed, inspired and emotionally moved by the 32 essays students submitted from the Extensive Writers Workshop. Her inspiration led to the 32 essays being professionally compiled and published so the essayists’ voices, in their own words, could be heard and made available on a larger platform. The publication, “In Their Own Words” is currently available for purchase via Amazon.com. Most exciting, the publication, includes essays from TMSA 5th graders Kaleb Lewis and Jovaugh Recasner, Jr.
“The Summer Writing Workshop was hard, fun and interesting. At first I didn’t want to do it because I was being lazy. But I found it be fun because of the environment and especially the teacher, Mrs. Chantrise. Everyone that in the class made it so that I wanted to participate versus feeling forced to participate.”
- Kaleb Lewis, Essayist and TMSA 5th grade scholar
Jovaughn Recasner, Jr., Essayist and TMSA 5th grade scholar
“I really didn’t want to do the class because it was in the summer, but, after the first ten minutes of being in class, I saw I was wrong. It was so much fun and we learned a lot beyond just writing. I can’t wait until next summer to take the Writing Intensive with Dr. Chantrise again!”
- Jovaugh Recasner, Jr., TMSA 5th grade scholar
The TMSA community is invited to purchase “In Their Own Words” from Amazon.com to support Kaleb, Jovaugh and the 30 additional essayists from the workshop. The first $500 in profit from the sale of “In Their Own Words” will be donated to a non-for-profit charity of the essayists’ choosing. The remain profit will be will be equally distributed amongst the essayists in the form of scholarships.
Please visit Dr. Holliman’s official website, www.dr.chantrise.com, and follow her on Facebook @Dr.ChantriseHolliman to obtain details about future Writing Intensive Workshops she will be conducting for students.