Inside…
Software helps student become a world-class writer
Jared Council
During elementary and middle school, literacy skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling were not really stressed for Jared Council. Now, through a new computer software being used at the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, he is on his way to mastering English fluency at the level of a high school English teacher.
Council, a junior print journalism, recently received a near-perfect score of 100 percent on the Electronic Grammar, Usage, Mechanics Proficiency Program (EGUMPP) software. He is the first Scripps Howard student to complete all four EGUMPP modules.
EGUMPP is a computerized learning system that evolved through years of classroom testing in York and Lancaster, Penn. Individuals who master EGUMPP improve their proofreading, editing, and writing skills so they are able to prepare error-free documents and write clear and concise sentences for email messages, memos, letters and reports.
"EGUMPP is by far the best tool that I've ever used to gain professional grammar skills," said Council. "From the first day I was like, ‘This program is awesome.' I would recommend it to anyone."
Throughout the summer, Council – along with freshmen pre-majors and a handful of other upper-classmen - has been using the software from his home. The use of EGUMPP is part of a new synergy of educational purposeful activities at the Scripps Howard School. This fall, these students will receive additional training in applied writing techniques in the Dean's Six O'clock Club and the School's Academy of Writing Excellence (AWE).
For Council, he's already seen the affects of EGUMPP and he knows how these skills will assist him in all of his courses.
"I've already witnessed my reading skills have improved since doing this. [The software] kind of forces you to break down the sentence and look for the subject and verb. If you apply those same rules, then everything else becomes easier to read."
For his achievement, the Scripps Howard Foundation has awarded Council a $5,000 scholarship.
"Jared Council is not only a poster boy for how to get ahead of the competition in the field of journalism and communications, but he is also a sterling example of demonstrating the kind of work ethic and commitment that are stressed at the Scripps Howard School," said Tony Brown, dean of the Scripps Howard School.
-Alison L. Phillips