SSWCA History 2010-Present

The Secondary School Writing Centers Association (SSWCA) began in 2010 as a small and informal regional network of secondary school writing centers and peer tutoring centers concentrated primarily in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area.  Inspired by the work of SSWC directors who pioneered and advocated for peer-driven programs before us (e.g., Pam Childers, Andrew Jeter, Dawn Fels, Jennifer Wells, and more), and recognizing the value of and need for student-centered approaches to the teaching of writing, teachers began to establish SSWCs throughout our region. Our close proximity to one another and the support of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the school district many of us taught in, resulted in an organic network of fledgling centers that was built on a culture of sharing resources, experimenting with different models of implementation, advocating for our programs, and supporting and celebrating the work we and our centers were doing. 

 

After organizing three secondary school writing center conferences in 2011, 2012, and 2013 via this informal network with the support of the University of Maryland and the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP ) at George Mason University, a handful of secondary school writing center directors formally founded the Capital Area Peer Tutoring Association (CAPTA) as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2014 with 12 member schools. Under the leadership of Amber Jensen, this organization focused on building capacity and curating resources for and by secondary writing center practitioners as well as mapping our work to the larger conversations of writing center praxis.

 

CAPTA hosted three secondary school writing center conferences at George Mason University in partnership with NVWP (2015, 2016, and 2017). By early 2017, membership grew to include 35 member schools from up and down the East Coast. Attendance at the annual conferences was a clear indicator of the growing interest in and professionalization around best practices and research in secondary school writing centers. Each conference between 2011 and 2017 drew a greater number of attendees (up to the 475 attendee maximum capacity allowed by the venue) from an increasing set of secondary and postsecondary institutions, welcoming a wider and more diverse set of tutor and director presenters at each conference. The network seemed to be both serving existing SSWCs and creating a forum for learning about and developing new centers in a wide range of schools far beyond CAPTA’s original regional focus.

 

By 2017, the need for a national SSWC organization had become abundantly clear. The national SSWC network was mapped over time on a Google Map maintained by Hannah Baran, through the 2017 census of SSWCs led by IWCA Secondary Schools Representative Jeffrey Austin, and through the ongoing communications via SSWC directors via a longstanding, independently-run SSWC listserv. Furthermore, CAPTA members and leaders had developed relationships with current and prospective directors outside of the Capital Area who had learned about CAPTA through the organization’s website, conference materials, and director presentations at national conferences. At the sixth annual conference for secondary peer tutors and writing center directors in 2017, CAPTA formally announced the exciting news of our expansion into a national organization for SSWCs. 

 

In January 2018, we officially transitioned into the Secondary School Writing Centers Association (SSWCA), a national organization dedicated to promoting scholarship, community, and sustainability for secondary school writing centers, their directors, and their tutors. Under the leadership of SSWCA presidents Kate Hutton (2018-2020), Renee Brown (2020-2022), and Stacey Hahn (2022-2024), SSWCA membership has grown to include over 60 middle and high school writing and peer tutoring centers from 40 states or countries. As a reflection of our growing community, SSWCA leaders––all volunteer secondary school teacher-directors––have led initiatives reflecting the changing needs of teachers and learners in our SSWC community and beyond, including:

  • Monthly digital roundtables and regional retreats to facilitate more regular connection between directors and tutors from across the nation and world
  • Publication of the SSWCA toolkit (in 2018 and a second edition in 2023) with contributions from a wide range of practitioners within our community
  • Annual SSWCA Conferences, including virtual conferences in 2020, 2021, and 2022
  • Continued partnerships with national and international organizations, including International Writing Centers Association (IWCA), and National Writing Project (NWP)
  • Publication of a twice-annual scholarly journal, The Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools (JPTSS) to promote and give voice to SSWC tutors, practitioners, and scholars
  • Generous grants to honor and support SSWC collaboration,and conference attendance

 

While our core mission to build community among, promote advocacy for, and support the development of SSWCs remains the same as it was in 2010, the past thirteen years attest to the exciting growth that can come with the perspectives and contributions of so many passionate partners. We imagine the next decade will only further the mission and reach of SSWCA in more exciting and expansive ways. We are grateful to have been a part of this community from the beginning. 

 

Amber Jensen, CAPTA President (2014-2017), and Kate Hutton, SSWCA President (2018-2020)

 


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