Freshmen Tim Drake, Sebastian Rateau, Mary Strunak, Anali Rodriguez, and Anna Tran read their This I Believe essays to Sr. Donna and the administration. As part of a grant from the NJ Writer's Project, Bishop Ahr High School hosted a Writer in Residence for four days to work with our freshmen students.
The program had students writing based on Edward R. Murrow's radio show of the early 1950's "This I Believe." Murrow said the program sought "to point to the common meeting grounds of beliefs, which is the essence of brotherhood and the floor of our civilization."
The writing program aimed to help student focus on a personal topic that "speaks" to them and then slowly revise multiple drafts with "sensory" details into a 350-400 word essay. Students were aided by guest presenter Anndee Hochman with various exploratory activities such as listening to finished This I Believe essays and completing memory charts. The four-day program concluded with Ms. Hochman reviewing their first drafts with them.
A major aspect of the writing program is to show students how a professional writers take multiple drafts to polish and perfect their writings.