Awards and Accolades

Date: November 1, 2009

Read about the special awards won and notable books written by writing project teachers.

Alabama

Jacksonville State University Writing Project

Gloria Horton, director of the Jacksonville State University Writing Project since 2004, has been selected Outstanding Faculty Member for 2009 at Jacksonville State University by the Jacksonville State University National Alumni Association and was honored at the homecoming event on October 24. The award recognizes Horton's accomplishments both in and out of the classroom during her career at the university.

Arizona

Central Arizona Writing Project

Jessica Early, co-director and 2006 fellow (South Coast Writing Project), and Meredith DeCosta, tech liaison and 2008 fellow (Louisville Writing Project), recently published their article "Inviting in the Life World: Illness Narratives and Personal and Creative Writing in Medical Education" in The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine (2009). Early is an assistant professor of English education at Arizona State University, and DeCosta is a doctoral student in English education at Arizona State.

Arkansas

Arkansas Delta Writing Project

Dixie K. Keyes, site director, published "Narratives of critical literacy: Critical consciousness and curriculum-making at the middle level" in Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices 3 (2) (2009). Keyes is an assistant professor of middle level education in the Department of Teacher Education at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Northwest Arkansas Writing Project

Samuel Totten, founding director, Helen Eaton, 1998 fellow, Shelley Dirst, 2001 fellow, and Claire Lesieur, 2001 fellow, published the second edition of their book Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen (Information Age Publishing, 2009). Totten is a professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Eaton teaches fourth grade social studies and literacy at Holcomb Elementary School in Fayetteville; Dirst is a literacy specialist with the Arkansas Department of Education; and Lesieur is the principal at Eureka Springs Elementary School.

Chris Goering, director and 2002 fellow (Flint Hills Writing Project), and friends have released a CD titled "Where He's Going" through Dreaming Dust Records (2009). Goering coordinates the secondary English education program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and directs LitTunes , a website dedicated to the inclusion of music in the secondary curriculum.

California

Area 3 Writing Project

Megan Hagelis, 2007 fellow, was named 2009 Teacher of the Year at Norwood Junior High School in Sacramento, where she teaches eighth grade English and language arts.

Bay Area Writing Project

Kathleen Cecil, 2006 fellow, published "Under Construction: Using Visual Patterns to Examine and Create Text" in California English 14 (4), April 2009. Cecil teaches English at Mission High School in San Francisco.

Inland Area Writing Project

Robert Rose, 1984 fellow, has self-published his latest book, The Complete Teacher (CreateSpace, 2009). The goal of the book, he says, is "to help teachers develop a self-sustaining classroom" and help "students of any age become clearer thinkers, more creative, independent, and self-motivated." Last year he also self-published Abuses of Power in Education: Challenging Practically Everything (Outskirts Press, 2008). Rose is an adjunct professor and supervising teacher at Cal State University at San Bernardino.

Connecticut

Connecticut Writing Project - Storrs

Barbara A. Campbell, 1984 fellow, published Inside the Club—Stories of the Employees of the former Lake Placid Club (Troy Book Markers, 2008). She also published a chapter titled "Working at the Lake Placid Club" in The Lake Placid Club 1890-2002, edited by Lee Manchester (Adirondack Publishing, 2003). Her poem "Literalism – as hard to get rid of as bittersweet and poison ivy" was published in Seabury Crossroads (fall 2007) and was a Polly Bond Episcopal Communicators Award of Excellence winner. Campbell's other poem "Poison Twining" was published in Writing from the Inside Out by Bard College, Institute for Writing and Thinking. Campbell teaches writing at the University of Connecticut, Greater Hartford campus.

District of Columbia

District of Columbia Area Writing Project

Mary Penn-Beveney, 2002 fellow, was selected as a member of a delegation from Miner Elementary School to participate in a ten-day conference in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The delegation will lead the school in implementing the Reggio Amelia approach to early childhood education. Beveney teaches special education at Miner in Washington, DC.

Cynthia Locke Henderson, 1995 fellow, published an article, "Citizen Journalism: Donors Choose, Students Benefit; Novel Writing Is an Example of Projects Funded by Charity" in the Washington Times, September 13, 2009. Henderson is a social worker at Sousa Middle School in Washington, DC.

Judith Moore Kelly, site director and 1995 fellow, was selected as one of the honorees in the inaugural edition of Who's Who in Black Washington, DC. The honorees were recognized at a September unveiling reception hosted by Dorothy I. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women. Kelly teaches in the Howard University School of Education in Washington, DC.

Natalie Porter McCuiston, 2003 fellow, was inducted into Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, a professional honor society of women educators that promotes excellence in education and the advancement of the status of women educators. McCuiston is a literacy coach at Ronald Brown Middle School in Washington, DC.

Samuel (Sami) Miranda, 1997 fellow, was one of the featured poets at the annual Bookfest sponsored by Borders Books and the Washington Post. Miranda has taken a leave of absence from his position with the District of Columbia Public Schools in order to write. He expects to publish a volume of his poems this spring.

Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project

Dawn Latta Kirby, director, has been promoted to assistant dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw. In addition, she will serve as liaison to the Professional Teacher Education Unit, a cross-educational program for students in specific content education fields.

Indiana

Indiana Writing Project

Linda K. Hanson, site director, coauthored an article, "Alien Environments or Supportive Writing Communities? Pursuing Writing Groups in Academe," which was published in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 8 (3), September 2009. Her coauthors are Donna L. Pasternak, site director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project, Hope Longwell-Grice, and Kelly A. Shea.

Carrie Milliner, 2001 fellow, was a finalist for 2009 Coach of the Year, an award sponsored by the Indiana Association of School Principals. Milliner teaches at Selma Middle School, where she has coached the English team for the past six years; this past spring the team won the school's first state championship.

Maryland

Maryland Writing Project

Melissa Krut, 2005 fellow, had her article "Get It Write: Two Strategies for Writing Teachers" published in the fall issue of Journal of Teaching Writing. She had been writing the article since her participation at the NWP Professional Writing Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Krut, who taught English at Walkersville High School in Frederick, is currently co-director of Frederick County Student Writers' Workshop.

University of Maryland Writing Project

Alison Giska, 2009 fellow, was a finalist for 2010 Maryland State Teacher of the Year. Giska teaches ninth grade reading intervention at Snow Hill High School in Snow Hill.

Michigan

Saginaw Bay Writing Project

Sharon Bernthal, 2007 fellow, published her article "Inspired by Prince Caspian" in the Tri City Monthly Lifestyle Magazine, September 2008 issue. Bernthal is an assistant professor of English at Delta College in University Center.

New York

Western New York Writing Project

Susan Kellner, 2003 fellow, had her personal essay "Mom's Song Lives On in All Our Hearts" published in the My View column of the Buffalo News on August 14, 2009. Kellner teaches first grade at Holland Elementary School.

Marie Larcara, 1994 fellow, was a speaker at the National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME) for the International Conference held in Denver in October. She spoke on the diversity of the online classroom and the instructor's role in leading such a class with a vision toward social change. Larcara teaches in the graduate education department at Walden University in Baltimore and teaches composition and professional communication at DeVry College in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, where she is also the program architect for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Pennsylvania

Southcentral Pennsylvania Writing Project

Colleen Myers, 1992 fellow, was a finalist for Pennsylvania State Teacher of the Year. Myers teaches first grade at Purchase Line South Elementary School in Commodore.

Washington

Puget Sound Writing Project

John Webster, former faculty site director of PSWP, received the 2009 Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is an associate professor of English.

Janine Brodine, 2000 fellow and current K–12 site director, received a 2008 University of Washington Educational Outreach Teaching Excellence Award for coordinating quality professional development for Washington state teachers. Brodine is a senior lecturer in the English department.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee Writing Project

Jim Vopat, founder and co-director, published Writing Circles: Kids Revolutionize Workshop (Heinemann, 2009). Writing Circles presents a collaborative small group approach to writing workshop—the missing link between independent student writing and whole-group instruction. You can listen to a podcast conversation about the book between Jim and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels on Heinemann's website.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project

Donna L. Pasternak, site director, coauthored an article, "Alien Environments or Supportive Writing Communities? Pursuing Writing Groups in Academe," which was published in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 8 (3), September 2009. Her coauthors are Linda K. Hanson, site director at the Indiana Writing Project, Hope Longwell-Grice, and Kelly A. Shea.