A group of Center tutors, along with advisers Beth Blankenship and Stephanie Lin, attended a CAPTA tutoring conference at George Mason University on Friday, October 2. “CAPTA” stands for Capital Area Peer Tutoring Association. According to their website, “CAPTA exists to build community among secondary school writing and learning center directors, tutors, and partners; promote advocacy for peer-driven programs that transform schools by empowering student leaders; and support development and sharing of local resources for new and existing centers in the greater Washington, DC, area.” High school students and teachers at this conference came from everywhere between Baltimore, Maryland, and Charlottesville, Virginia.

Most of the Center tutors who attended the conference gave presentations of their own. At the conference, tutors from different schools were organized into small groups, where they had the opportunity to meet new people and learn about writing centers across the capital area. Throughout the day, the groups rotated between hour-long sessions, and took a break in the middle of the day for lunch. During the lunch break, three key note speakers talked about how their high school tutoring experience has helped them in college. Two of these speakers were Oakton alumni.

The tutors and teachers came away from the conference with new ideas and skills to improve The Center and make the tutoring experience at Oakton even better.