AMERICUS — Gaston Bachelard, writer, said, “A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.”

Next week, a group of young students from around Sumter County, nominated by teachers and parents, will be participating in a camp called the Writing Youth Project at Georgia Southwestern State University, and learn exactly what Bachelard meant.

Keisha Hobbs and Laura Gerlach, both teachers at Sumter County Elementary School, will be leading the camp as part of the National Writing Project (NWP).

Hobbs, a native of Alabama, began participating in the project as an adult, while Gerlach, a native of Indiana, started a few summers ago.

The National Writing Project is a professional development network that serves teachers of writing at all grade levels, primary through university, and in all subjects.

And according to Gerlach, “The mission of the NWP is to improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in the nation’s schools.”

In addition to the adult site, NWP sites may conduct programs for youth. Gerlach said, “We want kids who are interested in writing.”

“They’ll come for a week and just write,” said Hobbs.

“We are not going to go through a week’s lessons of grammar and skills drill, we’re just going to get them together for the love of writing,” said Gerlach.

She continued, “it is a good opportunity for the kids to come together, share ideas ... and it is a little like therapy.”

Both Gerlach and Hobbs remember writing in notebooks as children and youth, and even now, said Hobbs, “It is so easy to have a notebook to write in, or even a napkin.”

Gerlach admits to being the note taker in her group. “I am always writing something down.”

The summer camp is designed to generate an interest in written expression, foster existing creativity, and create positive writing experiences for students throughout the southwest Georgia region. This summer camp will open the doors to endless opportunities and prove to be an activity that students will wish to participate in year after year.

The program lasts one week: from noon-4 p.m. June 15-19. Students should bring sack lunches and snacks. Students are expected to participate each day for the entire session. There will be at least one planned outing during the week about which students will write.