UCLA Writing Project Summer Camp
Instructor: Gilda De La Cruz, Sasha Avila
Share your unique perspective through writing and learning from others. In this close-knit community of learners, you will develop your writing skills while engaging in relevant social issues. The workshop will focus on a range of writing genres, including poetry, the narrative essay, and argumentative writing.
To help develop your “personal academic voice,” you will read stimulating texts, engage in debate, and participate in the writing process. One part of the process involves receiving personalized feedback from peers and instructor to help you fine-tune your ideas and the way you express them. But as author, you have authority—and have the last word!
Whatever your current writing abilities, this workshop will help you sharpen and refine your skills while making real connections with your peers.
Fee: $650
Gilda De La Cruz has been teaching high school English for over 25 years at Santa Monica High School. As a classroom teacher, Gilda has taught 9-12th grade classes, primarily in English, English Language Development, and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). She chairs the school’s Summer Reading Committee and was the AVID Coordinator for several years. Last summer, she participated in the Writing Project at UCLA. She has presented at the CATE (California Teachers of English) conference and the With Different Eyes Conference (UCLA).
Sasha Avila grew up in Whittier and studied art history and English literature at UC Irvine, later earning her teaching credential and master’s at UCLA. She now teaches AP Lang and English at California High School–her alma mater! At Cal High, she reads literature with her students and gets to see them instilled with a sense of agency, empathy, and critical awareness–she is forever grateful for her experiences as a condor, anteater, and bruin! She now lives in Los Feliz with her dog, Jojo, where they love to hike the hills, peruse the book shops, and visit all the cafes!