The Stem Commons transformed into a temporary auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 12 to host the Whipple Writing Fellowship fellows as they shared excerpts from their papers.

Over the summer, 11 high school students were chosen out of a pool of applicants to participate in the annual Whipple Writing Fellowship, during which they worked with English teachers Emma Siver and Evan Mousseau to research, write and revise a creative nonfiction paper on a topic of their choosing. During the summer, the fellows did hours of independent work and attended a series of workshops that included feedback on students’ work and meetings with guest speakers. The evening reading was a culmination of this process.

From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., an audience of students, families and staff listened in person and via Zoom to personal stories mixed with thorough research. The topic of the papers ranged from the meaning of home to fandom culture to America’s healthcare system.

Even though anyone can read the student’s full pieces online, Siver said it was important for the fellows to read their pieces aloud to a live audience.

“They spent so much time putting labor, time and their hearts into these pieces and it’d be a shame to just let them sit on a website. Also, a certain emotion comes through with the verbal deliverance,” Siver said. “Giving that sense of connection to a larger audience is important outside of just the vehicle that is the writing piece.”

The event ended with a Q&A monitored by Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator and Whipple Writing Fellowship Program Director Jen Martin. While the Q&A and reading gave the audience a chance to learn more about the writing process and fellowship, writer Mia Finnan said, for the fellows, the event was also an opportunity to spend time together again.

“It was a little bit scary, but the best part has been reconnecting with everybody and coming together as a group again,” Finnan said. “Getting to hear everyone else’s finished work was by far my favorite part because I’ve watched the entire process, and to see it all come to fruition is so cool.”

Fellow Angela Zhou wrote her piece about the book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua. She said the experience was cathartic and she was proud of her fellow writers.

“We [worked] together throughout the entire summer. We saw what everyone’s first topics were, and then we got to read the first few pages [of everyone’s papers] and the first really rough drafts. Now, [everyone’s papers] are so good,” Zhou said.

The Whipple Writing Fellowship is sponsored by Carol Gladstone and Ben Whipple in honor of their son, David Whipple who graduated in 2012, a passionate writer and student at the high school who passed away in 2019. Finnan’s mother, Carolyn Thall, said she was thankful to the Whipple family and the high school for the programs available to her daughter.

“I cried. I felt incredibly proud and really grateful that she gets to go to such an amazing high school in this great town and just to have so many opportunities,” Thall said.

Thall was not the only person that was emotional that night. Siver said the program helps her feel connected to her students and hearing them speak was incredibly powerful and brought her to tears.

“It’s just powerful. I think many of these kids are wise beyond my own years,” Siver said. “They have something to say, and, as many of them acknowledge, they don’t always have the avenue to say it.”