The Writing Source is the go-to site for local student work
The love of writing has united a group of Sussex Academy sixth-graders who have taken it upon themselves to form a creative community and power a website showcasing a range of original pieces.
After Noah Solovey launched his website, Words by Noah, to feature his own writing, he realized the site had potential to share the work of his peers as well. Wanting a more inclusive name, Noah said he came up with about 50 different possibilities before choosing The Writing Source.
“Anyone can write, no matter how old you are,” Noah said.
Classmate Max Feinstein was next to join TWS, and writing peers were selected based on an application process. Currently, TWS comprises Noah and Max along with classmate contributors Seth Moore, Neil Shenoy, Eva Piper, Damian Lucero-Sandoval, Grace Ippolito, Rylan Albert, Jillian Reed and Lexie Dare.
The site launched in January and already has more than 80 pieces ranging from entertainment news, fiction and poetry to advice columns, satire, and current local and world events.
Writers all do their own thing, Noah and Max explained, and have fun peer-reviewing each other’s work. Students said working on a team makes them consider different points of view and learn to be open-minded.
“We have all learned things from each other,” Max said.
Such closeness has bred camaraderie; during a March 1 interview, students joshed each other, claiming that Max was just playing Minecraft all day before joining TWS. Neil joked that he likes to write communist propaganda pieces, and Damian was acknowledged for bringing humor to the site.
Students’ personalities and voices make TWS fun, said teacher Jessica Love, who noted the website is not a school platform.
“Not a single teacher has overseen them,” Love said. “They have created it with no incentive other than the desire to write and learn, and they are able to experiment with technology, writing, academics and AI in a safe way.”
The site includes a section of ChatGPT-created articles to illustrate how the technology can be used in academics and writing. Persuasive pieces touch on climate change and how to successfully transition from elementary to middle school, and a creative story details which state would win a battle with another state.
The sixth-graders have also recently launched The Writing News, which will be an online newspaper featuring comics, reviews and school-related information.
In their free time, The Writing Source editors and contributors play sports and games, participate in band and take care of their pets.
Read the students’ work at sites.google.com/view/thewritingsource/thewritingsource.
