(DEMAREST, NJ) -- Sophie Gutter, a high school student from Demarest is taking action to close the nation's widening writing-proficiency gap. She was recently awarded a $10,000 Be More Grant from National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) for her writing-equity initiative, Writing Mastery, a research-based software program designed to help students strengthen their writing skills through structured instruction and AI-driven feedback.
Sophie developed Writing Mastery after learning that roughly 75% of U.S. students cannot write at a basic level. While math and reading have long benefited from comprehensive digital instructional tools, writing has lacked a comparable platform. She began building Writing Mastery at the end of 8th grade, and by the start of 9th grade, it had become a fully functioning program that guides students step-by-step through sentence construction, paragraph development, and full essay writing.
Writing Mastery uses a diagnostic assessment to place students at one of four instructional levels, from simple sentences to five-paragraph essays. With every submission, students receive objective scoring and personalized feedback, helping them build confidence and improve their writing in ways that traditional classroom grading often cannot support.
Sophie has already implemented the program with approximately 60 students at an underperforming school in South Florida, where she saw immediate improvements in engagement and writing ability. The Childhood Cancer Society now uses the platform in its homeschool curriculum, and Sophie is in the process of launching Writing Mastery at a school in Nigeria. Her goal is to make high-quality writing instruction accessible to all students, regardless of socioeconomic background.
Sophie says, "Helping these students find a love for writing was incredibly fulfilling. It instilled in me a desire to help even more students improve their writing skills using Writing Mastery, especially those who don't have the means to pay for tutoring or extra support."
National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) is the premier honors and scholarship program co-founded by Claes Nobel and James Lewis. It offers a lifetime of benefits, pairing the highest performing students worldwide with high school and college scholarships, events, connections, internships, and career opportunities.
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