Search
Student Voices Shine at the Sixth Annual Young Apprentice Writer’s Program Reading
On Friday, September 18, eight Hopkins students gathered in the Lower Calarco Library to read excerpts from original pieces they developed through the School’s Young Apprentice Writers’ Program (YAWP).
Now in its sixth year, YAWP is a summer mentoring program that pairs Hopkins students with published authors who provide guidance and support as students develop their own original writing.
As family, friends, teachers, and mentors looked on, the student writers shared pieces spanning a variety of genres and styles including fantasy novellas, short fiction, and satire.
“These young writers tonight, they’re certainly going to take us places with their writing, but they also themselves are going places with their writing,” YAWP Director and English Teacher Brad Czepiel exclaimed in his opening remarks. “The future is going to happen for them because they’re creative, they’re committed, and they’re knowledgeable in a very different way now.”
Czepiel praised the mentors (the professional writers) who helped the emerging writers “feel seen, valued, and understood.”
Following the apprentices' readings, several of the YAWP mentors—including six-time returning mentor writer and professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University Rachel Furey, Hopkins English teacher Elliot Holt, author Karen E. Olsen, fiction writer, essayist, and preacher Mindy Misener, and Young Adult author Catherine Egan. Other mentors included novelist Padya Paramita, writer Thom Parry, and author Zainab Hussein.
The reading marked the culmination of months of dedicated work. Since last spring, students have spent more than 20 hours meeting with their mentors.
| Apprentice | Mentor |
| Alice V. - Fantasy Novella | Rachel Furey |
| Arya M. - Short fiction | Elliot Holt |
| Ashley D. - Short fiction | Karen Olsen |
| Bea L. - Short fiction | Catherine Egan |
| Jack B. - Short fiction | Zainab Hussein |
| Jasper W. - Fantasy Novella | Thom Parry |
| Molly C. - Short fiction | Mindy Misener |
| Rebecca L. - Satire | Padya Paramita |
Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
Hopkins School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.