After hosting the Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) writer’s symposium in January at the PAC, the Writing Partnership continues to grow in size.

“The symposium was a great success,” Sponsor Heather Hogue said.

This is the first time MISD hosted the event.

“Everyone who attended it came back with better knowledge on essay writing than they had before,” senior Mason Wolfrum said.

Dr. Richard Enos, Chair of the Department of Rhetoric at Texas Christian University (TCU), was the featured speaker.

“We had students from all over the district attend,” Hogue said.

Hogue organized the symposium and funded the transportation and speaker’s honorarium with a grant she won from the MISD Education Foundation.

“Enos spoke on how to improve written communication skills and become better students in general,” she said.

Hogue and senior David Morrison started the Writing Club.

“Mrs. Hogue and I collaborated to define the goals of the Partnership and its organization,” Morrison said.

Wolfrum said that participants don’t have to be serious writers.

“The Writer’s Club is to promote creativity and help others who love to write,” he said.

The partnership’s objective is to create a writing culture throughout MISD.

“(The) goal is accomplished through guest speakers such as Dr. Enos, collaboration and interaction with the other high schools and by offering a haven for high school writers to present and receive feedback,” Morrison said.

Students involved in the club read their work with members and get feedback.

“We begin by discussing immediate issues such as upcoming events,” Morrison said. “We proceed to have a single person read an excerpt of their writing to the group.”

Participants in the club are currently working on submitting poems for the 2015 Texas Poetry Society Student Contest.

“Most of our members are just hobbyists,” Wolfrum said.

Morrison said that the club picks new topics to write about and it is interesting to see their creativity.

“An abundance of new and exciting ideas come from these genre assignments as members are forced to think outside of the box,” he said.

The club meets in Hogue’s room every Monday.

“Everybody is welcome to attend and join the group,” Morrison said. “In the future, we hope to see numbers (members) increase.”