Rhode Island Write on Sports, an affiliate of Write on Sports, Inc., is a non-profit organization that runs two-week summer sports writing camps for under-served middle school students.
The students' interest in sports is an effective "hook" to improve their writing skills. By honing these skills, students increase their ability to express thoughts with clarity, thus improving their academic achievement, self-esteem, and confidence.
Over the course of the camp, which follows a detailed curriculum, students create their own in-depth feature stories related to sports, starting with an idea, narrowing it down to an angle, doing research for the story, and then writing and revising the story under the guidance of qualified staff. The stories are published in a booklet.
Following a similar process, students will create a three-minute video. In addition, the camps feature model interviews with Rhode Island journalists and sports figures as well as a field trip. Over the years, students have visited Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, to interview members of the New England Revolution professional soccer team. They also have received behind-the-scenes tours of McCoy Stadium, the Pawtucket Red Sox' home, and interviewed PawSox players before they played an International League game.
