The Skyline Writing Center is proud to maintain partnerships with the Sweetland Center for Writing at the University of Michigan, the Office of Campus and Community Writing (C2W) at Eastern Michigan University, and 826michigan.
Skyline-Sweetland Partnership
Mission + Vision
The Skyline Writing Center is pleased the work with the Sweetland Center for Writing at the University of Michigan to enhance tutoring training, community outreach regarding the importance of writing centers, and mentoring opportunities in our shared community and in our respective institutions. As one of the nation’s premier writing centers, Sweetland and its staff can assist us in our goal of ensuring that Skyline students receive the highest quality tutoring based on research-based best practices every hour of everyday. Our belief is that high-quality, ongoing professional development of tutoring staff will lead to better outcomes for the students we serve and assist Skyline in increasing academic achievement for all students.
In return, Sweetland’s peer consultants, many of whom have futures in secondary education, will receive valuable opportunities to mentor young people in writing and literacy that will augment their skills as full-service classroom teachers. We also hope that being able to teach about peer tutoring to a willing, engaged audience will assist Sweetland consultants improve their own tutoring. Many of these pre-service teachers may open writing centers when they find their full-time homes, as an increasing number of high schools begin writing centers every year.
The Skyline-Sweetland Partnership was featured at the International Writing Center Association (IWCA) Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2015 and in Advocating, Building, and Collaborating: A Toolkit to Sustain Secondary School Writing Centers, a toolkit published by the Secondary School Writing Centers Association, in 2018.
Workshops
Check out recaps from some of our favorite workshops:
Play in the Writing Center | October 2016 | Sweetland Center for Writing
Encouraging Growth Mindset | March 2016 | Skyline Writing Center
Qualitative Data in the Writing Center | March 2015 | Skyline Writing Center
For more information on the Skyline-Sweetland Partnership, contact Christine Modey or Jeffrey Austin.
Skyline-Eastern Michigan C2W-YpsiWrites Partnership
Mission + Vision
The partnership between Skyline and Eastern Michigan’s Office of Campus and Creative Writing (C2W) came from a shared belief in writing centers as community-oriented, activist spaces charged with challenging traditional power structures and dominant cultural forces. Writing centers should not be mirrors for societal oppression. We believe that literacy is equity, and we wanted to be sure that all members of our community had access to literacy support in an effort to help close the achievement gaps that exist in local schools.
In evolving our Writing Center’s mission, we sought a partner with substantial community involvement, significant expertise in building “third spaces” where funds of knowledge can thrive, and lasting, meaningful relationships with different stakeholders, from students to non-profit organizations. C2W was the perfect partner.
In Winter 2018, nine Skyline students traveled to Eastern Michigan’s campus to learn about community literacy work with C2W leaders and consultants and to begin planning for Family Fun Nights at local elementary schools and neighborhood organizations. These same students also received additional training at Skyline High School to prepare for the literacy events that assisted with in Spring 2018 at the West Willow Neighborhood Center with Habitat for Humanity and Holmes Elementary School with the Bright Futures Program. In 2019, Skyline tutors began to become part of the volunteer corps at YpsiWrites, a community Writing Center housed in the three branches of the Ypsilanti. District Library.
The Skyline-C2W partnership was featured at the International Writing Center Association’s Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in 2018, International Writing Center Association’s Collaborative in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2019, and the International Writing Center Association’s. Conference in Columbus, Ohio in 2020..
For more information on the Skyline-C2W Partnership, contact Ann Blakeslee, Cathy Fleischer, or Jeffrey Austin.
Skyline-826michigan Partnership
The Skyline Writing Center’s newest partnership is with 826michigan, a non-profit, community-oriented writing center serving Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit. Given the expansion of Skyline’s services into the community, working with people passionate about creating opportunities and abundance for kids was an easy fit. Our work started with observing 826michigan’s tutors at work, participating in a community conversation about student-led, student-centered spaces at their Liberty Street location in November 2018, and completing 826’s Fully Programmed Training in December 2018. Both the Skyline Writing Center and 826michigan believe in humanizing educational spaces and putting empathy at the heart of all that we do in collaborating with students.
In 2019, Skyline tutors will have the incredible opportunity to work side-by-side with 826 volunteers in different programs to help students have fun with literacy, build reading and writing lives, and grow their academic skills. We’re happy to add student voices to the 826michigan team!
For more information on the Skyline-826michigan partnership, contact Jeffrey Austin.
Skyline Writing Center 