Appalchian Writing Project to offer writing institute for teachers at remote Southwest Virginia schools

The National Writing Project recently awarded the Appalachian Writing Project a $5,000 grant to jump-start an open writing institute for teachers in a remote county of Southwest Virginia who may not have easy access to AWP’s inservice opportunities.

“Our service is so large, we encounter challenges in reaching all of the counties in our region,” said Amy Clark, director of the Appalachian Writing Project and assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. “This grant will give us a starting point to ensure that more Southwest Virginia teachers have the opportunity to participate in our programs.”

AWP Teacher-consultant Rebecca Elswick will coordinate and lead the open institute in the summer of 2008. The open institute will be similar to the AWP’s regular summer institutes, with an emphasis on teacher research and writing, but participants will not be committed to become teacher-consultants.

The Appalachian Writing Project, part of the Center for Teaching Excellence at The University of Virginia's College at Wise, is a local site of the National Writing Project (NWP). Since its inception in 1974, the NWP has spread to 185 regional learning communities, which are comprised of school-university partnerships. The National Commission on Writing has high praise for the National Writing Project because its model of teacher education is collaborative and its track record remains superb. NWP believes that quality teaching comes from sharing best practices and exploring together the problems of assessment.

Posted October 8, 2007