To help every writer in need, Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills revived the Writing Center on Sept. 12, 2022. Every day at lunch, students and teachers can receive writing help from an English teacher in the library.

“The inspiration is truly to help every kid be a better writer,” PV Supervisor of English, Art, and Libraries Valerie Mattessich said.

Throughout the week, three different English teachers staff the program at PV: Daniel Phillips on Mondays and Tuesdays, Tina Rauscher on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Tracy Recine on Fridays. According to Mattessich, students can come to the Writing Center for writing help in any subject area, whether it is for a school assignment or for a personal project. 

“It’s really something that offers support to all levels of kids, so not just kids who struggle in school, or kids who need academic support all the way around,” Mattessich said. “It’s for every level of kid because everybody has to write things, and everybody’s paper benefits from having other people help you with it.”

Not only is the center run by teachers, but it is also open to them. Mattessich believes the Writing Center could be a valuable resource for teachers in graduate school and those composing their own assignments.

“It’s encouraging a whole school model of everybody knowing how and where to get help with your writing,” Mattessich said.

Mattessich recalls having a “very robust writing center, going back eight or 10 years that had won awards.” Due to budgetary and scheduling issues, it was closed down. 

Two factors allowed for the Writing Center’s return: Valley’s new schedule and a grant. PV’s current non-traditional schedule, which only has one lunch period compared to the previous four, allowed Valley to bring back the Writing Center at less of a cost. Additionally, grant money helped get the Writing Center off the ground. As stated by Mattessich, one of the main inspirations of the Writing Center was the need for writing support, especially post COVID-19. 

“It’s really a whole school intervention,” Mattessich said. “It’s something that provides a service to conceivably every single kid in the whole school who’s going through four years [of highschool]. You’re going to need it.”

Valley and Hills have had “a steady stream [of students] each day” during the Writing Center’s opening week. According to the sign-in Google Form, all attendees were seeking help with their college essays. Mattessich expects an uptick in both visitors and the variety of writing assignments as the school year progresses.

“I just didn’t want it [the Writing Center] to be empty,” Mattessich said. “Even though I knew that was a possibility, that has not been the case.” 

Many administrators assisted in bringing the Writing Center back. Mattessich collaborated with Curriculum Director Barry Bachenheimer and Special Education Director Eva Merk. As stated by Mattessich, Merk was involved because she is in charge of post-COVID grant moneyand is always trying to implement student support interventions. The Writing Center is classified as a level two intervention in the Multi-Tiered System of Support. The idea was put through to Superintendent Sarah Bilotti, Principal John Puccio, and Assistant Principal Alison Petaccia, who all “embraced it with open arms.” The library assistants aided with the setup while English teachers staff it.

“It was kind of an all hands on deck project,” Mattessich said.

Mattessich’s main goal for the Writing Center is to keep it alive. She wants it to become a successful staple at the schools. In the future, Mattessich hopes to get students involved with the staffing. She will be working with the English Department until it becomes second nature to drive students to the Writing Center for all writing assignments. Mattessich expressed gratitude to all who supported and helped in the Writing Center’s creation process.

“Everybody thinks it’s a great thing,” Mattessich said. “So, it’s just a matter of keeping it going all year and making sure that all the kids really know about it.”