DePaul Writing Center Comes to Lisle
DePaul University’s First Year Writing Program has made it its mission to enhance academic rigor at the
University level and beyond. Recently, Lisle Senior High School hosted members of University’s staff in
workshops for students. The staff members teamed with long-term substitute Patrick Woyna, a DePaul
alum, on May 8th. During the day, the members of the writing program helped both Business
Communication and Writing for College courses to get the students prepared for college and careers
ahead. Lisle Senior High School is continually looking for ways to collaborate with organizations to
benefit their students, so the partnership with the University was a natural fit from the beginning.
Elizabeth Coughlin, DePaul’s first year writing program coordinator, and Kevin Lyon, outreach
coordinator for the program, have both done extensive work with college-bound students regarding
their writing, and were more than willing to share their expertise with the students in their final months
of high school. Their work with the program is geared toward improving writing across the University.
Some of their resources include showcasing, personal tutoring, group instruction, and curriculum
development at the University level. Both parties believed it was important to give the students context
to what they had been learning in class, and continue to expand student perspectives for postgraduation life.
As an added bonus, the workshops were tailored to what the students were learning in their classes.
For Business Communication, the students gained a better idea of how to market their products they’ve
made for class. In the case of Writing for College, the students learned about college level literary
analysis. Many of the current seniors have their eyes set on next year, and these workshops helped take
the students another step forward.