Meet the CCSWP Instructors: Caine

As the 2015 CCSWP fast approaches, I'd like to introduce you to some of our incredible instructors. These are the people that make the CCSWP a success summer after summer. They are all amazing teachers and writers. 

This is Caine. 

I was born and raised in Wethersfield, CT. After high school I attended Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH where I majored in English and minored in Secondary Education. 

After graduating I moved to Summit County, Colorado and worked as a snow board instructor at Copper Mountain. Following my time in CO I decided to try Maui, Hawaii and simply couldn't leave. I lived on the island and taught English at Baldwin High School for six years. In 2011, I married my wife Jill (also an English teacher) and we decided to move back to Connecticut to start a family. 

On August 25th 2013 my wife gave birth to Makena Elizabeth Schlenker. I have taught English at The Greater Hartford Academy of Arts for the past three years (which means I will be going into my 10th year of teaching! Yikes!) By the time you will have read this my wife will have given birth to our second child.

Summertime Echoes

Since 2012, we've asked students to reflect upon their CCSWP experience as it draws to a close. On the last day, students fill out an online form that asks them what they enjoyed, what they'd like to see changed, and how they would rate the CCWP. 

All questions are optional, including a name. Students can be anonymous, but most if not all choose to own their comments. I'd like to think it's because they've spent so much time developing and owning the words in their stories and poems. 

I always like to share these comments just to give a sense of how students feel about the CCSWP and how it affects these young writers. 

All samples are copied exactly as written (misspellings and all)

• There is so much I love about this camp. I like being around other people that like to write (NOT an experience I'm used to) and sharing with my ideas with them. I also loved being with the teachers. who along with being fun and easy going also gave really good feedback that helped me improve my writing. Overall, everyone here was awesome. I also really liked just being able to focus and write.

• I love the freedom that we get here, being able to talk and laugh and be creative all at the same time. I loved being able to see my friends after a year and be around people who actually like writing and consider themselves as nerds. At school, I am the only one.

• There aren't many changes that I would want to make in the writing program, it was fun and interesting. But if I had to choose, I would choose to make the time longer. I love the writing project and think we should have more time to write stories and do our lessons. That way we could get so much more done.

• I loved when we did the Forbidden sense activity because it challenged our imaginations and taught us to describe things in ways we wouldn't have thought of. I also loved the ice breakers because we were able to get to know the people that were in the camp to.

• It was very fun at the writing program, I got to meet new people and write. Before this program I didn't exactly like writing. I would rather read or do math. But now, I love writing and plan to do it more often.