Less than 15 lucky high school students in the Lafayette area recently were accepted into the Ernest J. Gaines Writer Apprentice Program. These promising participants will attend five weekend writing workshops and will maybe even get to meet Dr. Gaines.  They will study different types of story telling such as memoirs, folklore, tall tales, and traditional story telling.  The program will culminate with students sharing their stories with their family and peers.

One of our own blue gators, Amanda Rabalais, was honored with an acceptance to this program. Amanda says she “is thrilled for this amazing opportunity and the chance to study with other talented writers in the Lafayette area”.  For her application, she had to submit a six to twelve page story, an explanation of what she hopes to gain from this program, and a counselor recommendation.  The first day of the workshop is in early February.

Amanda has won The Authored Ascension sponsored Halloween Short Story contest in eighth and ninth grade, and she has also represented our school at District and State Rally for English. Amanda hopes to one day carry over her success and writing skills into a career in journalism or mass communications.