District Writers’ Academy’s mission is to create a safe and inspiring space for young writers to explore, learn and empower themselves through writing.

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Enrollment Cap:  6 students.

Instructor: Suzanne Zweizig

Location: Virtual (via Zoom)

Camp Tuition: $385 (Includes Handbook)

Please familiarize yourself with our refund policy

Fundamentals of Academic Writing Summer Bootcamp
(Sr. Level-Rising 10-12 Graders)

Session II: August 28 - September 1 — 2 p.m.-5 p.m.

Start the academic year strong with this one-week workshop, which teaches the basic skills for writing an academic essay (prewriting, thesis statements, organization, specificity, paragraph development, research, transitions). Our interactive, workshop-style methodology creates a fun and safe space for teens to improve their writing and learn how to navigate the essay writing process effectively and efficiently. This camp is limited to six students, so each student gets hands-on attention and plenty of feedback in a non-graded, constructive environment.

This course will

  • Teach academic writing skills in a hands-on, supportive environment
  • Break down components of good essay writing using visual tools, models and interactive exercises
  • Give students plenty of time to write, rewrite and practice
  • Build confidence and demystify the writing process, so students can see how good writing actually happens (i.e. not by a sudden bolt of inspiration)
  • Provide practical strategies to overcome common writing blocks, such as perfectionism, lack of ideas, overwhelm with too many ideas, etc.
  • Provide copious but ungraded feedback to build on students’ strengths
  • Train students to become astute editors of their own work.
  • Provide a handbook with models, tips and reference tools that students can keep as a writing resource
  • Make your student love writing?  Well, maybe at least not hate it…

Instructor: Suzanne Zweizig is the Founder and Director of District Writers' Academy She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Florida. An award-winning writer herself, Suzanne has been teaching writing for almost 30 years, the last ten of them to students privately in the D.C. area.
Read more about Suzanne here.

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What people are saying about our courses:

"Suzanne is excellent at both the craft of writing and teaching it to young adults . . .she motivated students to become better writers through a combination of understanding, empathy, skill, and patience."

Betty W.

Former Learning Specialist, Maret School

“Suzanne heavily influenced both of our children to open up and write like nobody had ever done before!  She has a gift!!”

Marci

Parent, Maret School, Washington, D.C.

“I loved working with Suzanne. I never thought I could like writing and poetry, but somehow she made me enjoy it.” 

Toni

Former Student

Suzanne demystifies the writing process, from organizing ideas and developing arguments to sentence formation and transitions. More than that, she’s convinced my kid that her creativity is worth sharing. I feel great knowing those foundational skills and confidence will benefit my daughter well into college and beyond.”

Becky

Parent, Walt Whitman High School (MCPS)

"Suzanne helped me discover my creativity and confidence, and most importantly, she taught me how to love writing."

Ariana S.

Former Student, Maret School

District Writers’ Academy’s mission is to create a safe and inspiring space for young writers to explore, learn and empower themselves through writing.