YOUNG WRITERS. The “Writers for Writers” covered eight topics in journalism, namely, feature writing, radio broadcasting, copy-reading and headline writing, news writing, science and technology writing, photojournalism, editorial cartooning, and editorial writing. Contributed photo.
Report by Maria Monica L Borja
Xavier Ateneo’s College of Agriculture, in partnership with the Development Communication (DevCom) department through the Development Communication Society (DevComSoc) and development writing class, conducted its first writeshop for junior high school student writers on Saturday, August 5.
The writeshop, dubbed as “Writers for Writers” (WFW), served as a pre-Manresa Days activity under the initiative of Rechelle Ann Tolinero-Barraquias, development writing instructor and Jeasselle P Villalobos, WFW project head.
The event covered eight topics in journalism, namely, feature writing, radio broadcasting, copy-reading and headline writing, news writing, science and technology writing, photojournalism, editorial cartooning, and editorial writing.
THE WRITESHOP. Xavier Ateneo’s College of Agriculture, in partnership with the Development Communication department through the Development Communication Society (DevComSoc) and development writing class, conducted its first writeshop for junior high school student writers. Contributed photo.
Lorenzo Lagamon, a student from St Mary’s School, who attended the feature writing workshop, shared: “What inspired me to join the writeshop, most importantly, was my unwavering love for writing and journalism. It was great! Well-organized and the lectures were easy to digest!”
From the millennial’s perspective, his favorite part about the writeshop was the lecture by writer Stephen Pedroza on how to tell a story using literary journalism.
“The writeshop was sharp, concise, and insightful. I initially expected it to be a run-of-the-mill workshop where the basics would be taught (which is really perennial already), but it was not. I learned a lot; by that, I mean: a lot. My friend, who was supposed to be in the SciTech writing, accidentally joined the feature writing writeshop and said he didn't regret making that mistake,” Lagamon wrote to the organizers of the event.
He also shared a few takeaways from the writeshop: “It definitely made me realize just how taxing and bold being a journalist or a writer is. It made me realize how I took writing for granted, and that now, writers have a solemn duty to narrate the stories of the marginalized, the dismissed, and the silenced voices. But on a more personal level, I just hope I get to do justice in telling other people's stories so that they'd be heard properly, accurately, and finally.”
WRITERS FOR WRITERS. Xavier Ateneo’s College of Agriculture, in partnership with the Development Communication department through the Development Communication Society (DevComSoc) and development writing class, conducted its first writeshop for junior high school student writers. Contributed photo.
Besides Pedroza, other speakers included Rechtie Tolinero-Paculba for radio broadcasting, John David Moncada for copy-reading and headline writing, Rechelle Ann Tolinero-Barraquias for news writing, Dr Ma Theresa Rivera for science and technology writing, Rizalyka Waminal for editorial cartooning, and Jade Alfie Sale for editorial writing.
Project head Villalobos also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the people behind the success of the event.
“I am very thankful to my classmates for helping me from finding the right speakers and venues, and most especially, [for] the time they spared for the workshop. Indeed, the workshop could not have been made successful without their help,” she said.
Xavier Ateneo Aggies, DevCom department, and the DevCom Society are working together to hold a writing competition during the celebration of Manresa Days 2017.∎