The sibling center program is open!

SSWCA is offering the opportunity to partner with another school through this innovative program. We invite all schools to enroll themselves by completing the form below. You will then be “matched” with another center.

We will close this form on NOVEMBER 19th and you will be matched by the first week of December. We recommend that paired centers plan a virtual get together before conference and will be providing ideas for how such a partnership might work. The conference will be the main event for sibling centers, after which they can decide how such a pairing might continue moving forward. If you have any questions, please email admin@sswca.org.

Once matched, the possibilities are endless:

• Discuss Visions – Share why you signed up for sibling centers, information about your center, and a couple of ideas. Or, use the list below to highlight areas of interest and go from there! Directors could do this via email, virtual meet-up, or phone call. Tutors could also be involved by using a shared Google doc (or similar software) to provide comments, narrow down choices. Tutor leaders could also be the main points of contact between the schools. 
• ‘Pen Pals’ – Pair up tutors to be email pen pals, sharing tutoring practices, reflections, questions, etc. 
• Virtual Meetings – Use virtual meeting software for a virtual field trip, tutor speed dating, celebrations, lessons, etc. Ask a virtual guest speaker to present to both schools, then debrief after! Set up a debate/discussion on a center topic (such as tutor names: tutor, consultant, fellow, client) that both centers are working through.
• Reciprocal or Parallel Trainings – Have tutors use virtual meetings or recorded presentations (like Flipgrid) to present on specific training techniques to the other school. Or, have all tutors attend the same training session at each center and debrief after either in a written or live format. sswca.org has a blog on how to create an engaging FlipGrid presentation. 
• Service Project – Design a service project each school can implement in their school/city or one that benefits a national/international organization. 
• Discuss or Co-Author an Article – Check out the JPTSS archives or other writing center journals for a common article to read and discuss. Or co-author article(s) for a school newspaper or the Journal of Peer Tutoring in Secondary Schools (Voices from the Center or Tutor Articles). 
• Write Center Handbooks, Histories, or Reflections / Reactions– Tutors from each school could participate in center sessions as each school works through the writing process. Centers can write a center handbook, research and write their history, document what the center means to them, or interview and collect staff reflections and reactions about the center. Students could learn or become more comfortable with either asynchronous or synchronous tutoring sessions.
• Craft Inclusivity Statements – See SSWCA’s Inclusivity, Equity, and Accessibility Statement for Secondary School Writing and Peer Tutoring Centers to get started. 
• Create Resources – Schools can share and create resources for tutor training, outreach, staff presentations, information or promotional videos, etc. 
• Connect at the Conference – either virtually or in-person. The Whova platform has multiple ways for attendees to connect. Tutors could pair up and attend the same sessions, share takeaways, and plan strategies. A shared Google doc could record ideas, questions, and future possibilities. A mini-meet up could happen between your centers during Friday or Saturday to debrief.

Filling out this form indicates that your center would like to be partnered with another center(s) and means that SSWCA can share the information you provide here with your sibling center(s). Please complete this form only once for each writing or peer tutoring center. Questions can be directed to admin@sswca.org

Note: SSWCA would like to thank tutor representative Nikko Curtis (fall 2020-spring 2022) for suggesting this program and spearheading its creation. In addition, thanks to tutor representative Deesha Panchal (fall 2021-spring 2022) for her contributions to this program.