Tutoring + Creative Literacy

Are you looking for a meaningful way to get involved in the Syracuse community? M.E.S.H. (Making Expression and Scholarship Heard) provides Syracuse University students the opportunity to teach creative writing workshops in Syracuse city schools.

Currently the schools we work with, Danforth Middle School, Ed Smith, and E.L.M.S., all struggle on the New York State ELA exams. It is our goal to promote literacy and the arts in a progressive learning format, granting the students agency in the classroom, where they use literary terms in line with the New York State Common Core to express themselves through writing. In addition to teaching the workshops, we also publish the students’ work in a literary magazine, which comes out once a semester.

If you are not a writer, don’t worry. Our R.S.O. features a diverse group of students who, differing in majors, all share the goal of promoting literacy to underprivileged students in the community. This year, MESH will also feature a mentoring program where members will be matched with middle school students by the Syracuse City School District to meet once a week for tutoring and advisement.

As Syracuse University students, we all have a responsibility to improve the area which is now our home, and education is the best tool to change the status quo. For more information on workshop dates and times, please contact Alex Sammartino at atsammar@syr.edu.

MESH program participants