For the past two weeks, high school students have been working on their writing skills and learning what writing means to them — skills they shared in an event marking the end of the high school summer writing program.

On Friday, students, friends, and parents gathered at Patrick's Pub and Eatery in Gilford for the finale of the two-week summer writing program for Lakes Region high school students.

Thirteen students took part in the program, with 11 from Laconia High School, one from Gilford High School, and one from Inter-Lakes High School. Participants ranged from those going into their freshman year to juniors.

Students studied writing genres and techniques such as critical reading, personal memoir, poetry, and how to look over one's own writing.

The program was organized by Mandi O'Riordan, a fourth-grade teacher at Elm Street School in Laconia who had been leading writing classes for elementary school students a few years ago.

"I just wanted to try it at a different level," she said.

O'Riordan talked to various English classes and informed students about the writing program.

The program was organized through the Plymouth Writing Project at Plymouth State University with O'Riordan and Laconia High School teacher Dave Pollack working with students.

"At the writing project, we're extremely impressed with her initiative and risk-taking," said Gail Bourn, co-director of the Plymouth Writing Project. "For me, writing is a life skill."

Bourn praised the success of the program and O'Riordan's efforts "to raise this interest with high school students in the middle of the summer. I guess it's seeing the whole learning cycle that doesn't stop when you're 18 and graduated from high school."

O'Riordan said she sees "a lot of passion and excitement" from elementary school students about writing, but the interest has waned in older students she has spoken to. She wants older students to "look at it as an art and not so much a class chore."

Students met every day during weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Huot Technical Center at Laconia High School. There also were two field trips to PSU to meet with authors who led the students through writing exercises.

Program participants received half a credit through their high school.

The program cost $250 per student, though the Laconia Rotary Club provided scholarships. The Rotary Club also provided further funding that allowed the students to go on field trips; and Project Extra! also made contributions.

On Friday, students from the program gathered at Patrick's for a last presentation at the end of the program and to have a buffet lunch and share their work.

Young writers shared poems based on newspaper articles and ones describing themselves. There were also narratives about ttime spent with relatives and pets and momentous occasions.

O'Riordan and Pollack also shared some of their work.

"There's nothing wrong with anything that you write," Pollack said, addressing common concerns among students. "It's just a matter of keeping with it and doing it over and over again."

"I think it's important for school and it's also a really good way to express yourself," said Amy Cass, an LHS sophomore who shared a piece about herself and a poem about a Wimbledon tennis match.

LHS junior Kaytie Fecteau read two pieces, including a story about spending time with her grandmother, with flashbacks about how her grandmother was badly burned as a child.

Fecteau said she has been writing her whole life.

"It's what I want to be; it's my dream; it always has been," she said.

"I learned a lot of different styles of writing. I feel I went from being a good writer to a great writer. I realized just how important writing is to me."

RAY MONGEAU/For The Citizen Jordan Edgerly of Laconia, a high school junior, reads his poetry created at the Plymouth Writing Project Summer Camp, 'Nothing is Perfect: Everything Dies,' and 'Pond.' * Order a print of this photo