Melissa Thornton Email & Phone Number

Atlanta, GA, US

Atlanta, GA, US

• Support high school and college students through all aspects of the writing process from brainstorming and research to revision and editing.
• Work with high school seniors to craft compelling personal statements and supplemental essays.
• Experience helping students with ADHD, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia and processing difficulties to find their writing voice and an individualized process that helps them write independently.
• Provide services for job seekers looking to revamp their resumes and write effective cover letters.

Atlanta, GA, US

• Taught three AP English Language & Composition classes and two on-level junior English classes as well as a weekly advisory group.
• Evaluated student performance in order to create lesson plans tailored to each class's specific needs in both standard and AP level English courses.
• Designed and led a comprehensive revision workshop for AP Language & Composition, engaging students in critical self-assessment, one-on-one conferences, and intensive editing exercises to enhance their writing skills.
• Implemented a month-long research paper project for on-level English that included instruction on research methods, source evaluation, and evidence-based argument construction, culminating in a persuasive academic.

• Trained new team members on the food and beverage programs as well as service standards to ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for guests.
• Created a cohesive and collaborative work environment among colleagues by communicating priorities during service and assigning tasks that targeted people’s specific strengths.
• Provided attentive service to our guests by anticipating their needs and coordinating with the hosts, kitchen and server staff to quickly prevent or resolve problems.

Atlanta, US

• Facilitated weekend wine tastings and special events by providing tasting notes for each wine and educating customers about the story behind the wines and producers.
• Wrote creative copy for emails marketing the store’s monthly wine club offerings as well as wines featured during special tasting events.

• As an assistant web designer, updated website content, optimized SEO and set up email campaigns for clients with small businesses using WordPress and FluentCRM.
• As an assistant book designer, formatted and designed interiors and book covers on InDesign and Photoshop for clients self-publishing their manuscripts through Amazon and Ingram Spark.
• As supervising editor of the GBD blog, The Art of Everyone, managed and reviewed submissions as well as curated weekly content for the blog; worked with contributors to implement thoughtful revisions to their pieces.

• Brainstormed social media content and branding strategies for Studio Friend, which included creating an Instagram account and sample posts to match the company's mission and tone.
• Researched content and edited audio for the Studio Friend Podcast, a bi-monthly podcast providing creative writing prompts based on the work of recently published authors.
• Coordinated programming for the Flowers Workshop held by Studio Friend in August 2022, which included nature walks, museum and farm visits, as well as daily writing activities.
• Wrote e-newsletters to Studio Friend subscribers marketing the Flowers Workshop and Studio Friend podcast.
• Designed and developed a daily practice notebook and planner for use at the Flowers Workshop.

Atlanta, GA, US

• Assisted the freshman English teacher with in-person instruction and classroom management while she continued to carry out regular virtual instruction over Zoom.
• Facilitated small group in-class discussions to extend student engagement with assigned readings.
• Provided writing and research support to students while they crafted their first literary analysis papers.

Washington, DC, US

• Researched political candidates and voter turnout for the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections and compiled comprehensive spreadsheets with my findings for use in the Data Division’s email marketing campaigns.
• Created PowerPoints and edited copy for Aristotle’s marketing deck and Digital Services webinars.
• Identified and evaluated new business leads from Salesforce, LinkedIn and similar channels in order to increase data sales leading up to the 2020 election.

• Invited to participate in the 2019-2020 College of the Environment (COE) Think Tank focused on bio-semiotics or "Meaningful Worlds: Animality, Technics, Poetics" for research on a senior thesis project pertaining to.
• Collaborated with professors and students of various academic backgrounds and disciplines in weekly seminars centered around meaning-making and alternative communication practices.
• Presented at the annual COE Symposium on textual representations of human and non-human animals in several works of contemporary French literature, philosophy, and theory.

• As a Thesis Mentor in the spring of 2019 and 2020, supported thesis writers in the development and completion of year-long research projects by helping them build the research and time-management skills necessary to.
• As a Workshop Tutor in the fall of 2019, evaluated the high and low-order concerns present in a student’s work so as to ensure that their most pertinent needs were met by the end of each session.
• As a Writing Mentor in the fall of 2018, worked with first semester freshman to develop college-level writing skills with a focus on strengthening their ability to write with critical depth and attention to detail.
• Provided individualized strategies for the improvement of students’ grammar, clarity, and organization.
• Guided students through the brainstorming, outlining, and revision processes in order to expand and enrich their writing practices.

Middletown, CT, US

• Conducted independent research on digital essays for the creation of Professor Khachig Tölölyan’s new course The Essay from Page to Webpage, a class on the essay genre and its transition to and development as an online.

Bakersfield, CA, US

• Aided the College of Letters Administrative Assistant with daily office tasks, the re-cataloguing of the department library, and the promotion of and preparation for department events.

• Aided an English teacher at a French high school with instruction of a sophomore English course.
• Jointly created lesson plans and instructional materials for a unit on U.S. History and facilitated cross-cultural conversation.

Middletown, CT, US

• Promoted from Research Assistant to Student Supervisor in 2017; developed a new coding manual in tandem with the project manager and fellow student supervisors for the expansion of project research.
• Coded political ads for the 2016 election, research which contributed to the publications of Professor Erika Franklin Fowler in the Wesleyan Government Department.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, College Of Letters, French Studies

Literature, Art History, Criticism And Conservation

Education record