Humphrey Family Writing Center


The Humphrey Family Writing Center is the home for The Hill School’s student writers. Located on the third floor of the John P. Ryan Library in a beautifully renovated room with an inspiring view of the campus, The Writing Center provides Hill’s student writers with a place of their own to develop their skills in the company of other writers. During the school day, English and history class students engage in lively discussions around Harkness Tables. 

After school, the space serves as the hub of Hill student publications, The Record, The Hill News, and The Dial. During study hall, students visit the center to seek assistance on any type of writing project from Co-Directors of the Writing Center Mark Pearson, Ph.D., ’78 P'20 '24and Catriona Miller, Ph.D., ‘08, and their colleagues, as well as the Writing Fellows.  

The Humphrey Family Writing Center was established in 2008 through the generosity and vision of Wolcott "Bud" Humphrey, Jr. '41; Peter Humphrey '72 and his wife, Sally; John B. Humphrey '75; and Christopher Humphrey '02, Peter and Sally's son.

About the Instructors

Dr. Mark Pearson '78 P'20 '24 | mpearson@thehill.org
Co-Director of The Writing Center & Senior Master Teacher of English and Humanities

Dr. Pearson is a veteran English teacher, former journalist, and published author. In addition to serving as co-director of the Writing Center, he also is a Senior Master Teacher of English. Dr. Pearson’s fiction and essays have appeared not only in his book of short stories, Famous Last Lines (2013, Mainstreet Rag Publishing Company), but also in The Best American Sports Writing 2011, Altered States, Aethlon, Blueline, Broken Bridge Review, Carve, North Dakota Quarterly, Short Story, Sport Literate, Stories, and Suicidally Beautiful. Dr. Pearson earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan; master’s degrees from both St. John’s College and the University of California/Davis; and his doctorate from the University of Georgia.

Dr. Pearson is a veteran English teacher, former journalist, and published author. Pearson’s fiction and essays have appeared not only in his book of short stories, Famous Last Lines (2013, Mainstreet Rag Publishing Company), but also in The Best American Sports Writing 2011, Altered States, Aethlon, Blueline, Broken Bridge Review, Carve, North Dakota Quarterly, Short Story, Sport Literate, Stories, and Suicidally Beautiful. 

Dr. Catriona Miller '08 | cmiller@thehill.org 
Co-Director of the Writing Center & Instructor of History and Social Sciences

Dr. Miller currently serves as co-director of the Humphrey Family Writing Center, instructor of History and English, and a dorm parent. She received a B.A. in history honors, summa cum laude, from Loyola University Maryland and Ph.D. in Southeast Asia and Gender and Women’s History from the University Wisconsin – Madison. While there, she served as a graduate student instructor and as the graduate student director of the UW-Madison History Lab, a writing center for undergraduate history students. In 2023, Dr. Miller was awarded a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. 

Writing Center News:

Writing Fellows

The Writing Fellows is a group of fifth and sixth form students selected for this honor and responsibility through a competitive process that includes an application and recommendations from teachers. These students provide writing assistance to their peers four nights per week during study hall.

Publications

The student publications include the school newspaper The Hill News; literary magazine, The Record; and yearbook, The Dial. Students can contribute to these publications through journalism classes, co-curricular assignments, and evening activities.

Speakers

Each year, students can attend events and workshops with professional writers who share their wisdom and experiences with students. Recent speakers have included Vox Media political journalist Ian Millhiser '98, poets Heather Thomas and Shangyang Fang and novelist Josip Novakovich and Sabaa Tahir. In the winter, the Writing Center hosts a Winter Writing and Arts Festival where students read their pieces for the community.  

Contests

Hill students submit their writing to schoolwide, regional, and national contests. The Writing Center organizes the Revell Contest, a school writing contests with categories in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and podcasting. Many of our students do well in the regional and national Scholastic Awards. Most recently, Deric Choi won a national gold medal for in script/screenplay and Sophia Li ‘29 won a national silver medal in poetry.

Summer Program

The Writing Center provides full funding for students to attend the Susquehanna Summer Pre-College Programs, including the Summer Writing Workshop, MediaWorks Institute, and the Publishing & Editing Institute. Eight (8) students will attend these programs in summer 2026.