Summit Elementary School uses project-based learning to build strong writers.

Principal William Chwalik and two teachers spoke at the Butler School District’s Monday evening school board meeting.

Chwalik passed around samples of students’ work, as he discussed how Summit Elementary teaches students how to write well.

“People are impacted by writing daily,” he said. “It (what we teach) will impact the writers and authors they become.”

It starts in kindergarten, he explained, where the students write only a few words about what they are thinking. By fourth grade, the students are writing five-paragraph essays, where they are required to find and organize facts into the completed paper.

Chwalik said students are writing in all their classes, even math and science. And they often complete projects that include a writing portion.

The presentation also included a video to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program. It included several students, who varied in ages, reading their own words aloud.

“The sky is the limit,” Chwalik said. “The goal is to continue to produce great writers.”