Writing. When students hear this word they usually have one of two reactions: for the majority of students a moan or sigh, for a minority, excitement. The latter is the group of students who belong to the Writer’s Club of Alisal.

These students write because they enjoy it and they want their voice to be heard, even if it’s just among the seven students in the club. Sophomore Angela Hernandez said, “I decided to join this club because Mrs. Bernasconi is one of my favorite teachers, and I saw it as an opportunity to improve my writing.”

Adviser Dr. Natalie Bernasconi started the club last year after attending the district wide competition, the Evening of the Spoken Word.  “I got the idea to start the Writer’s Club from Salinas High School. When I would go and watch their students perform their pieces [at the Evening of the Spoken Word], I was just so inspired by how powerful and mesmerizing their writing was. Eventually a teacher told me that they used the same concept as Writer’s Club to help the student’s voice their thoughts. That is why I wanted to bring that to Alisal. I was also confused as to why Alisal sort of faded away from these competitions when before we used to bring the trophy to Alisal very frequently.”

Bernasconi hopes to change that very soon as some of the students in Writer’s Club entered the school wide Literature Live poetry competition held at Alisal, as a sort of qualifier for the district competition on November 3.

Of the four students from the club who competed in the school-wide Literature Live competition on October 19, three advanced to the district wide competition on November 3. The three students who advanced were club president Liliana Constantino, Angela Hernandez, and Alan Martinez. Constantino said, “I am absolutely ecstatic to be able to compete against the other high schools in Salinas. I will be able to show them that students from Alisal High School are not entirely incompetent, as many people say we are.” Constantino also added that she would like to be able to qualify for the state competitions, “That is definitely one of my goals this school year, and I hope that with the club’s help I can achieve it.”