Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Ozarks Writing Project September Site Bulletin

· September 27, 2008, Saturday Renewal for 2008 Ozarks Writing Project Fellows and guests from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Plaster Student Union. Please contact Casey Daugherty at caseydaugherty@missouristate.edu with guest information.

· The Advanced Institute: Writing Our Communities will be meeting Saturday, September 6 at the Writing Center on the Missouri State campus. Visit the OWP Advanced Institute wiki to take a look at our “works in progress.” http://owpai.wetpaint.com

· Saturday, October 25, attend the first Ozarks Writing Project Saturday Seminar from 9:00-12:00. Larry Neuburger, Miller High School, and Thomas Maerke, Pleasant View Middle School, will share teaching demonstrations on Teaching the Holocaust based on their experiences with the National Writing Project/Rural Sites Network Holocaust Seminar they attended in New York City this past summer. Bring your department and colleagues from the History department. Registration is $20 and includes a light breakfast. Attendance can count toward career ladder and professional development hours. Contact Liz Salchow for registration information at salchowe@carthage.k12.mo.us .

· Send in your application for the 2008 Professional Writing Retreat at Big Cedar Lodge. Find the application at http://owp.missouristate.edu/writingretreat.htm . Contact Laura Burdette at lburdette@spsmail.org for more information.

· Write to Learn Conference proposals are due September 19, 2008 . Submit site proposals to Dr. Keri Franklin at kfranklin@missouristate.edu. All Ozarks Writing Project Teacher-Consultant proposals will be sent as a group. Having the OWP designation is important.

· Contact Kim Piddington at kpiddington@spsmail.org if you are interested in participating in a writing group.

· Encourage your students, grades 7 – 12, to participate in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Contest of 2009. Visit www.artandwriting.org for Submission guidelines and contest entry forms (2009 forms available online October 1; Missouri entries due: Wednesday, December 10). Missouri Region winners and their teachers will be honored at the 2009 Write‐to‐LearnConference in Osage Beach, MO, on Friday, February 27, where winning writings will be displayed.

Missouri student winners will receive
· Gold Key, Silver Key, or Honorable Mention awards and certificates;
· Copy of The Best Teen Writing of 2008: Selected national award recipients from The Scholastic Awards of 2008;
· Recognition from Write‐to‐Learn Keynoter Chris Crutcher and an autographed copy of a
· Crutcher novel or another featured speaker’s book.
· All Missouri Region winning entries will be published online—with listings by students’ names, by teachers’ names, and by students’ schools. Missouri Gold Key winners’ work will also be judged for national awards and scholarships, with national winners honored during Scholastic’s National Celebration Events in New York in June 2009.
Email scholastic@missouriwestern.edu OR visit our Missouri Writing Region website at
www.missouriwestern.edu/scholastic

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Share this with colleagues:

---Letters to the Next President---Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future, made possiblethrough a collaboration between NWP and Google, is an online publishingproject that asks young people to develop essays and letters on topicsthey would want our next president to address. Students do their writingin Google Docs, which allows teachers and other students to collaborateon their writing and help them get it publication ready. Then, as ateacher, you have the opportunity to publish their pieces to awell-designed national website for all to read. At the end of theproject, we will deliver the student writing to Congress and make itavailable to the next President.
For more information on the project, visit the registration page at:http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/nwpsites/writing_our_future.csp

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The Missouri Writing Projects Network (MWPN) of NWP sites has agreed to serve as a referral service for the Communication Arts section of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

We have been asked to submit a list of qualified Teacher Consultants (TCs) early this fall who are willing to

(1) Participate in item development, item review, or other MAP/End of Course development work which DESE will sponsor during 2008-2009;

and/or possibly,

(2) Work with teachers from schools in their area (This would involve approximately two school days and ongoing communication regarding a district's curriculum and practice. TCs would help to provide support for teachers in their process of improving instruction for students.).

If you would like to be included in the MWPN referral roster, send email to Dr. Keri Franklin no later than Monday, September 15. Include your name, contact information, the grade level you teach, and your area of interest.

NOTE: DESE pays travel + stipend for such work; I know a number of you already regularly serve on DESE committees/work groups, but you might want to add your name to this referral listing, too.
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BACK-TO-SCHOOL PRESS RELEASE CIRCULATING -- NWP has issued a national press release highlighting the 3,000 summer institute participants who are returning to the classroom, renewed from their writing project experience. A local reporter may call your site, wanting more information about participants in your area. Consider using the press release as a template: fill in your site name, quote, and data, and send it to your local newspapers.
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2667