In this episode of the Clapham Podcast, Kelsey Peterson walks us through some exciting curricular updates to composition at Clapham School. We also dig into the value of writing in the age of AI, and learn more about the exciting projects that Clapham students will get to engage in as we continue to honor our tradition of Charlotte Mason narration at school. Listen below:
Mrs. Peterson discusses her history with writing. She has published both creative nonfiction and fiction. In The Front Porch Republic, she reflects on the blessing of “wrinkles” and imperfection in human writing as the mark of human intelligence. In The Unsent Letters of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal, she imagines a correspondence between estranged siblings.
Kelsey PetersonWe must hold fast to the idea that thinking, for its own sake, is good—and that writing is one way we think. There’s a deeper pleasure in the effort of thinking, in the labor of invention, that we must insist on, a hard-won joy to which the scanty satisfaction of AI dialoguing cannot compare.
Writing came easy to Kelsey in her younger years, but it wasn’t until she earned her first “D” on a written assignment from a discerning teacher that she began to recognize that writing entails thinking. Now a teacher herself, she has come to redesign Clapham’s composition curriculum, keeping in view our school’s goal of shaping critical thinkers.
Check out the podcast for more details on the specific texts and curricula each grade level will use beginning this fall. And below: see the exciting capstone composition projects for each grade, giving our students the opportunity to stretch their wings as writers.
Class | Capstone Project |
Class Three | Write and deliver an original poem |
Class Four | Write and deliver a speech as a historical figure |
Class Five | Write and present an original myth |
Class Six | Write and present an argument about what a character should/should not have done |
Class Seven | Write and present a biblical analysis |
Class Eight | Write and deliver a judicial address |
Class Nine | Write and present a thesis on beauty |
Class Ten | Sophomore Proposal—present a practical solution for a local problem |
Class Eleven | Junior Thesis—present a deliberative speech on a political topic |
Class Twelve | Senior Thesis — present a deliberative speech on an academic, social, cultural, or theological topic |
If you’re curious about this or any other aspect of Clapham’s curricula, we invite you to schedule a tour or contact us to begin a conversation.