As the mother of two school-age boys, Judith Dupré is committed to increasing literacy among the young. To this end, she has given talks and workshops on writing and reading to elementary, junior high, and high school students around the country. In 2004, the Westchester Arts Council awarded her the Artists Award, the county’s highest cultural honor, citing her as a “champion of the arts and literacy.”

The essential principle guiding Ms. Dupré’s writing classes and residencies is straightforward: to attain fundamental and long-term writing skills, students must write and revise their writing on a daily basis. The program makes use of various tools (journal writing, fun warm-up exercises, group poetry) to free the writer in each child.

A number of programs are available to meet the needs of your school: programs for large groups (up to 200 students) that break down into small-group writing exercises; in-depth classroom workshops for 15-25 students; and extensive writer-in-residence programs conducted over the course of a semester. Ms. Dupré works closely with teachers to create programs that complement the goals of the curriculum.

Each program invites the student to participate in a lively, often humorous discussion about the benefits of writing and reading. Using her illustrated and unusually formatted books as examples, she presents the hows and whys of writing, and numerous, related topics—reading, the vitality of the English language, using a dictionary, editing, grammar, punctuation, and writing for everyday life. Also addressed are the practicalities of achieving one’s dreams through participation, persistence, and completion.