Why We Need to Save the National Writing Project

    National Writing Project changed me as a teacher and writer. One summer several years ago I participated in one of the finest professional development experiences of my life. NWP sites are on university campuses around the country. Teachers participate in graduate level professional development that is beyond listening to a professor and regurgitating information for exams. Writing project participants are immersed in a community building experience that lasts a lifetime.

  I spent four intense weeks reading professional texts on the teaching of writing and discussing the books with other teachers. The teachers came from a variety of backgrounds, schools, grade levels (K-college), and subject areas. We focused on teaching writing with a spectrum of perspectives and ideas, generating sound pedagogy based on research, theory, and classroom practice.

  I believe that in order to teach writing you must first write. National Writing Project gives teachers the opportunity write for publication. We spent time writing, critiquing, revising, and editing pieces for a multi-genre collaborative project. The time we spent as writers helped us to understand the writing process, which in turn gave us a powerful way of thinking and communicating with our students. We studied different writing techniques, teaching methods, and discussed the various processes writers use to get from nothing on a blank page to words with meaning. 

  In addition to reading, writing, and discussing, we spent time developing presentations in order to take our professional development into our own schools and school districts. We didn't just go to learn. We went to learn and teach. Once a teacher finishes a summer with NWP they become a teacher-consultant. NWP teacher-consultants go out into the world and share their new found knowledge and expertise. As they put best practice methods in place their own classrooms, they help to lift the level of student achievement in writing. 

  NWP's professional development model is empowering. Teachers continue to grow by participating with a network of colleagues who actively pursue improving the quality of student's writing. I cannot imagine a world without such a dynamic, worthy organization.

  And yet, the National Writing Project is at risk. At the same time our society demands better teachers and stronger schools, our government is cutting spending. There isn't any doubt that we need to act fiscally responsible in a weak economy, but should we do this at the expense of our children? If we want our students to become strong writers and communicators, we must provide opportunities that go beyond the one day workshop for our teachers. NWP is a teacher to teacher model that is a proven game changer.
 Please support NWP by writing, emailing, and calling your state senators and representatives. Keep abreast of the ongoing fight to keep NWP alive and kicking through federal funding at NWP Works!

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