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Palm Desert, Calif. (www.palmdesert.ucr.edu) — “Writers in the Schools (WITS),” an innovative 10-week program of creative writing workshops in which students from the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center and professional writers work with students in five Coachella Valley high schools is now under way.

The program, which runs from February through April, is for freshmen and seniors at Desert Mirage High School, Coachella Valley High School, La Quinta High School and Palm Desert High School and is given by students in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts program at UCR Palm Desert.

The WITS program offers high school students exposure to a variety of writing disciplines, including poetry, screenwriting, creative nonfiction and fiction. At the end of the program, works created by students will be published in an anthology. Students will also attend a culminating ceremony at UCR Palm Desert in May.

"One of the greatest challenges many teachers face is a disparity in academic achievement and ability in their classrooms,” said Pamela Galvin, program director. “Through creative writing, WITS levels the playing field because every student has a story. WITS teachers are highly skilled in helping students to tell their own stories, and it is in the telling of those stories that they are transformed. Indeed, their perception of themselves and their potential is often greatly changed through this process,” she said.

For more information on “Writers in the Schools” and how to help support the program, contact Ms. Galvin at (760)834-0926 or at pamela.galvin@ucr.edu.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.