How the Westlake Writers’ Room Changes Middle School
Chapter 510 has wrapped up our fifth year in our Westlake Writers' Room!
Our work at Westlake Middle School began with a satellite program focusing on homework assistance. In 2019, we were thrilled to unveil our first Writers’ Room while expanding our offerings to include both in-school and afterschool workshops. This was especially meaningful since we already had close relationships with students and teachers.
When learning went remote during the pandemic, Chapter 510 continued to partner with Westlake to organize and promote their “Literary Nights” — an evening of readings by students for families and the Westlake community through Zoom.
When Chapter 510 resumed programming at Westlake, we gathered feedback from the principal, teachers, and literacy coaches to answer the question: What do students and teachers and Westlake need, and how can we best serve them with the strengths we have?
Through strategic planning and our collective data, we honed in on creative writing, bookmaking, and publishing as our core offerings within the middle school.
Since 2022, students have had the opportunity to choose our program as an elective. The program includes bookmaking with our longtime Teaching Artist Anna Kingsley, which gives students a kinesthetic way to connect to the book and engage in tactile learning. They then have two days a week to deep-dive into creative writing and develop their stories. This course is a nine-month intensive – and its impact has been transformative.
Dr. Lucinda Taylor, who has been a long-time principal at Westlake Middle School and an Oakland Unified School District educator for 20 years, shared, “Literacy is at the center at Westlake and Chapter 510 makes writing meaningful for our scholars. We are so proud to host the only dedicated Writers’ Room in all of OUSD.”
For the 2025/26 school year, we’ve focused on poetry and memoir. We had a diverse cohort this year with six different home languages present within the classroom — Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin, Maharic, and Vietnamese. Our Lead Teaching artist Belinda Bellinger was integral in translation support while we also used different language translation tools to ensure every student was included.
What emerged clearly this year was student voice that was honest, reflective, and deeply rooted in personal experiences. Seen in pieces like this one by 7th grader David Chen:
Where I’m From
David Chen, 12
I am from Hong Kong
From Vitasoy soy milk cartons and Maxim's smiling mooncake tins.
I am from the cluttered old tenement on Hong Kong island,
narrow, warm, steeped in running soy sauce.
I am from Nathah road banyans
Roots coiled in stone walls, holding old stories
I am from lantern parades and mahjong nights.
From A-ma and the Chen family.
I’m from the Down dim sum and endless tea.
From “mind the stairs” and “typhoon’s coming.”
I’m from no fixed faith, just joss paper for ancestors, bows to Tin HAU.
I’m from Kowloon City, Chaozhou roots, wonton noodles and braised goose.
From grandpa rowing at dawn,
From selling fish at central market
The worn red taxi keychain scratched by my sister and me.
In our Hong Kong box, by our ban photo.
It holds our laughter and bond.
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Bellinger also beautifully summed up the power of this presence in middle school in their introduction to the group’s culminating publication, Nice Life, More Becoming. “When adults hear the mention of middle school, they seem to relive their worst moments. Yet, when you sit young people in a room, and ask them what they remember about last year, last month, or yesterday, they will tell you…. they might say, I don’t care.
If…adults reflect back on their middle school years and what might have made them care more, I imagine they might say: caring adults who took the time to hold space for all of their emotions, safe and unstructured time in the day where they could hang out with friends without the moment being ruined by bullies. Or a period in the day that is just as important as their English, Math or Science classes, where they can build the thing they saw in their dreams, or say the truth they swallowed while awake.”
We are so grateful to have been able to continue to grow and refine our presence at Westlake Middle School over the last five years. Even under budget cuts, Oakland Unified Schools is deepening this relationship with Chapter 510 because our approach works to help young people write skillfully and with joy.
Through our time at Westlake, Chapter 510’s mission has been reinforced in classrooms every day. When students are given intentional and dedicated spaces to connect with writing, they develop as writers, as students, but most importantly they develop as people. Connecting to writing allows a deeper connection to self, identity, and their own voices. And when students are given the tools and space for exploration, their engagement in learning only deepens and becomes more rooted and meaningful.
We look forward to the continued partnership with Westlake and to keep fostering and expanding the creative opportunities for students through our Westlake Writers' Room.