Fundraiser at Panera

We will be hosting a fundraiser at Panera Bread- the one in the colonnade, known colloquially as "the coolest one"- on Thursday, November 12th. In order to make sure they know what great cause you are supporting, please bring a hard copy of this flyer or be ready to show them it on your phone!

2015-2016 Year

Hello Wildcats!
Welcome to the CVHS Writing Center blog for the 2015-2016 school year. It's one heck of a blog for what we're sure will be one heck of a year. If you aren't familiar with the writing center, then look here to see what we do, what we offer, when we're open, and what events we're holding in the near future.

Note:Construction

Our blog is currently under construction, forgive us as we fiddle with the overall appearance and style. We are trying to make it the best as possible. Hopefully the new blog will be more user-friendly and allow for more comments from our readers.

June Book Recommendation of the Month

This month's book recommendation is Voices of the Sea.The Sirens of Pacific Grove, California are being exterminated, and seventeen-year-old Loralei Reines is their next target. Lora may look like a normal teenager, but her voice has the power to enchant and hypnotize men. Like the other Sirens in her clan, however, she keeps her true identity a secret to protect their species.

Lora's birthright as the next clan leader seems far off, until the Sons of Orpheus, a vicious cult determined to kill all Sirens on Earth, begin exterminating her people. When an unexpected tragedy occurs, Lora must take her place as Guardian of the Clan.

Lora is determined to gain control of her skills to help her clan, but they are developing too slowly, until she meets Ryan, a human boy. When Ryan is near, Lora's abilities strengthen. She knows she shouldn't be with a human. Yet, she can't resist her attraction to him, or the surge in power she feels whenever they're together.

And the Sirens are running out of time. If Lora can't unlock the secret to defeat the Sons of Orpheus, she, along with everyone she loves, will be annihilated. (Summary from Amazon).

Which Writing Center Teacher are You?

Ever wonder which WWC director you are most similar to? We have the answer! Take this quiz and find out once and for all.

The link is below!

https://www.onlineassessmenttool.com/which-wwc-director-are-you/assessment-24623

Senior of The Month: Sydney Dolan

This month's senior of the month is Sydney Dolan. Sydney enjoys model rocketry, drawing, and watching Rupaul's Drag Race. She has taken AP Literature and AP Language, and her specialty is research papers and Munson essays. Come see her slaving over the blog at the Writing Center during 6th period!

Sydney is clearly at the Writing Center in this photo.

Stephen's Love Advice: Promposals

Dear Stephen,

I don't know how to ask a girl that I like out to prom. Do you have any ideas or advice?

From, Lovestruck Loser

Here are some of my best ideas.

• Dress up as Winnie the Pooh and say "I'm Winnie the Pooh. Prom?"
• Let's have one hellUVA time
• (For a girl name Lynn) I would be Lynnsane not to go with you
• Dress up as a burrito and say "Prom would be Rice"
• I'll treat you better than the CVHS girl's bathroom
• You're more exciting than my honey sandwiches
• Let's make bird calls together.
• Tic-Tac-Toe. Give me an X. Give me an O. Come to Prom?
• *Falls from second floor to first floor* "I literally just fell for you. Prom?"
• "P is for prom and P is for perfection, go to prom with me and I'll show all my affection!"
• P is for prom not for PF Changs, go with me and you'll end up saying "DAAAANG"
• Hey are you a geek  because your eyebrows are on FLEEK. Prom? 

 Sincerely,                      

Swag Daddy Steve

7000 Page Views!

   Things are going great for the Writing Center! AP week is over, the blog has over 7,000 views, and there has been a steady flow of students coming in. Now to spread the joy, we have compiled a list of  jokes. We hope that you can get a laugh out of these.

I bought the world's worst thesaurus yesterday. Not only is it terrible, it's terrible.

Why don't blind people skydive?

Because it scares the hell out of their dogs

Crazy ex-girlfriends are like a box of chocolates. They'll kill your dog.

What is the difference between a poorly dressed man on a unicycle and a well dressed man on a bicycle?
Attire.

I have the heart of a lion and a lifetime ban from the Toronto zoo.

I just read a book about Stockholm Syndrome.
It was pretty bad at first, but, by the end, I liked it.

What do you call a friendship between punctuation marks?

Commaraderie.

If you ever get cold, just stand in a corner for a bit.

They're usually around 90 degrees.

There are two monkeys in a bath tub.

One says to another: oohoohahah!

The other says: Maybe add a little more cold water.

Why does Snoop Dogg always carry an umbrella?

Fo' drizzle.

Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute goes by.

Say what you want about deaf people.

I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey, but I turned myself around.

What do you call it when Batman skips church? Christian Bale

English Writing Tips Masterpost

English is a very complicated language, and there are a lot of rules that one has to keep in mind when writing. Here we've compiled a series of graphs and diagrams to help you differentiate all the rules.

This website breaks down body language, and what certain postures and movements mean. This is very helpful if you are writing a story and looking to accurately portray a character's mood.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)  has many pages upon pages dedicated to citing, formatting, or even grammatical questions. If you are writing a research paper, the Purdue OWL is a reputable source to consult.

Ever have a word that you want to use, but you can't seem to remember it? This website is here to help. The website takes hints about the word that you are trying to remember, and then offers you a list of options for the word that you are looking for.

Stuck on a name for a character? This website will give you a random name. You can even chose the ethnicity, gender, and surname of the name you are looking for.

Teacher Appreciation Week

We asked our tutors to tell us about their favorite teacher. Here are a few of their responses.

Sara Khorramshagol

I have many favorite teachers, basically all my teachers that I have had in the past are my favorite. But the one that I've made a close connection with is my sophomore history teacher, Mrs. Beckmann.

I found Mrs. Beckmann to be the teacher that could tolerate my weirdness and craziness. I found her to also be very talented and knowledgeable about World History. Mrs. Beckmann made me love World History. Out of all the subjects in school, World History is one of my all time favorite classes. In Mrs. Beckmanns class I felt comfortable and always wanted to participate, and was actually motivated to do my work. I would always study and put my 100% effort.

Mrs. Beckmann really helped me retain the information. Whenever she could, she would try to connect the info to the real world. She mentioned to the class about I am Malala and I was very interested to read it. I am so inspired to learn more from Mrs. Beckmann.

Alison Gomeiz

In an age where people are overly sensitive, its nice to have a cathartic release from the tension going into his class every 3rd period. His sharp attitude cuts through the fluff of our society and pouts the facts in black and white terms, taking out the "mush" and grey area. Although I discuss with him a lot on policies, we respect the others' opinion. He pushes me to be a better student and his teaching will continue to affect me for the rest of my student career and possibly beyond. He's unorthodox, but he has taught me so much in such a different style of teaching. I wish each student could experience being in a classroom with Mr. O'Rourke.

May Writing Center Horoscopes

• Aries (March 21- April 19)Due to the sun's conflicting position with the Earth, your inner chi is off. Channel you inner namaste in order to resolve conflicting thoughts.                    
• Taurus (April 20- May 20)The collision between Pluto and the sun this month will result in a tumultuous few weeks for you, Taurus. Be sure to take cover from any debris from Pluto.
• Gemini (May 21- June 20)  Venus is in line with Mars this month which means the flowers will be growing in your direction. The flowers will sprinkle pollen on your head, causing severe allergies.           
• Cancer (June 21- July 22)                                                                                              A shooting star will fly across the sky, sprinkling good fortune onto your house. Do not be surprised if you stumble across a $20 bill in your future endeavors.
• Leo (July 23- August 22)A ladybug crosses your line of sight. In order to figure out your future AP Exam score, count the dots on this ladybug. The number of  dots will be reflective of your score.Yes, you can get a 7,Leo.
• Virgo (August 23- September 22)Remember to take time out of your day and smile to appreciate the little things. Happiness is the secret to beauty in life. At least, that's what you tell yourself after the plastic surgery fell through.
• Libra (September 23- October 22)The half moon on the 6th will cast a shadow into your relationship, meaning you will get yourself into some friend drama.         
• Scorpio (October 23- November 22)                                                                            Wow look in the mirror, what do you see? Someone who needs to get their life together. This is a wake up sign, literally.
• Sagittarius (November 22- December 21)As you attempt to overcome struggles in your daily life, look to your family. They are the source of all problems.
• Capricorn (December 22- January 19)Life is about priorities. Focus on what you hold dear. Like your appendages. Those are very important.
• Aquarius (January 20- February 18)Keep away from people that belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that. And not just the midgets.
• Pisces (February 19- March 20)                                                                                 The Stars are in your favor as you find new love in an unexpected area. Pray to cupid that your romantic interest doesn't have a disease this time.                                          

* Horoscope Image credit goes to The Onion.

Senior of the Month: Rachel Steinbach

This month's senior of the month is Rachel Steinbach. Rachel likes to read, sleep, tan, and go to the gym. She has taken AP Literature and AP Language, and she is proficient in tutoring all grade levels. Come see her huddled up under all of her jackets here at the Writing Center during 6th period!

Rachel in her usual attire for the writing center.

Tutors Respond: Nail Polish Colors

Our tutors were asked to come up with a creative nail polish color names. Here are some of our favorites.

Carrot-tine

-Sydney Dolan

You Make Me Blush

-Rachel Steinbach

James Blonde

-Stephanie Chang

Sweet Child of Lime

-Katie Kowalski

Grape To Meet You

-Delaney Madden

Beef Jerkin' It On The Dance Floor

-Sydney Hammrick

Gray's Anatomy

-Metaxia Mysteros

My MAWCA Experience

The MAWCA conference this past weekend was so much fun!!  There were so many different perspectives and techniques to listen to, and everyone was so open with their ideas.  Even the professors and adults wanted to share their knowledge with me instead of enforcing an age barrier.  It was also a great bonding experience with the WWC tutors and the directors.  The campus was also very pretty; it was a nice break from the transience of Northern Virginia.
-Alison

My experience at MAWCA this past weekend was AMAZING! I learned new things from adults, and got the experience of sharing my ideas with other people. Not only did I learn ways to improve the writing center but also there was an amazing keynote speaker. I learned new things from her. 

The food was also amazing. My favorite part of dinner was when Metaxia ate a ball of butter thinking it was cheese. 

I love JMU DUUUUKES

-Sara

My MAWCA Experience

I can say without a doubt that the MAWCA conference was an incredible experience, and something that I definitely want to attend again. The presentations at the conference itself were outstanding and rewarding to participate in. I was especially pleased with the ideas we could exchange with other high schools and universities. (10/10 would do again)

My MAWCA Experience

              This weekend, the writing center went to JMU for the MAWCA conference, and it was so much fun! We got to ride the bus down with a bunch of schools from our area and when we got there the weather was just perfect. JMU has such a beautiful campus, and it was nice and warm. Shortly after we got there, I went to a presentation on accommodating tutees with disabilities and got to talk and share ideas with a group of tutors from West Springfield. It was interesting to see how some writing centers are so similar to ours! A lot are pretty different, though. On Saturday, for example, we went to Katie Kowalski and Sydney Dolan’s presentation on tutor collaboration(which ROCKED) and talked to some college­age tutors. Their writing center has a lot of differences from ours (like the fact that they get paid), so that was cool to hear about. Many of the presentations at the conference were geared more toward college writing centers, but I think we could easily adjust some ideas to fit at our school. One of the panels I went to was explaining a program at UConn where the university teams up with middle and high schools around them to create writing centers. I thought it was a really unique idea, and it might be interesting to try to do something similar with our school. Maybe we could work with the writing center at George Mason!

Sydney Hamrick and I actually presented at the conference, too. We did a workshop about working with ESOL students, and we had about 14 people show up from all different writing centers. It went really well ­­ everyone was engaged in the discussions and seemed to learn a lot from our session! We were both really nervous beforehand, but afterwards we were so happy. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip, because a lot of people told us they were really impressed and that we did a great job. I wish there had been more sessions, because I think there’s even more I could have learned, but it really was an enjoyable and interesting trip! (Also, one of the best moments was when Metaxia put an entire ball of butter in her mouth at lunch. Yum!!!!)

Mrs. Hughes, Sydney, and I after our presentation!

MAWCA

Last weekend, our writing center tutors went to the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association Conference, held at JMU. Some of our tutors even had the opportunity to present workshops and host discussions! Over the next few weeks, each of our tutors will be describing their time at MAWCA, what they learned, and what liked the most. Here are some pictures from the conference!

 

April Book Recommendation of The Month

This month's book recommendation is one of Mrs. Miller's favorites, The Knife of Never Letting Go. The book follows Todd Hewit, the youngest boy in a town of men.  Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is. (Summary from Amazon.com)