The two-day event began Tuesday, with the students meeting in the Sugarland garden, observing the fruit, flowers and vegetables and recording their experiences with nature.
On Wednesday morning, four groups of students took to the streets for the morning’s writing marathon, moving from place to place and stopping occasionally to experience the world around them and write.
 Teacher Margaret Simon, left, leads student writers along the bayou as they participate in the 2nd Annual Write Your Way program, sponsored by Iberia Parish Schools and the National Writing Project of Acadiana. INNESS ASHER / DAILY IBERIAN Advertisement
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“We tell them to use their senses, their eyes and ears, to see and listen to what’s going on around them,” she said. “What they’re doing is developing a love of writing.”
The groups met at 9 p.m. and spread throughout the immediate area, passing notable locations such as the Shadows-on-the-Teche, Clementine’s, the A&E Gallery and The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany.
Jaylen Nora, 8, writing on the boardwalk, said she enjoyed observing the bayou and read some of her spontaneous work: “I see a big swamp and trees and birds ... bugs and leaves. I hear a mockingbird.”
This is the second year the writing project has been held in New Iberia. Hutson, Stephanie Judice and Margaret Simon — teacher-consultants with the National Writing Project of Acadiana — guided the writers along their paths.
“We’re giving them experiences to lead them to writing,” Simon said while leading her writers from the boardwalk to Main Street. “We’re showing them how writing can be a part of their everyday lives.”
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