Awards and Accolades

By: NWP Staff
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 6, No. 3
Date: May-June 2001

Summary: Find out your colleagues' latest awards and publications. NEW! Submit your Awards and Accolades online.

New! Submit your Awards and Accolades online.

Alaska

Alaska State Writing Consortium
Annie Calkins, founder, and Scott Christian, 1989 Fellow, edited Standard Implications: Alaskans Reflect on a Movement to Change Teaching (University of Alaska, 2000; available from ASWP office for $7), containing essays contributed by the following ASWC and Bread Loaf School participants: Dixie Goswami, Eileen Clark, Fargo Kesey, Joe Koon, Tom McKenna, Geri McLeod, Karen Mitchell, Maria Offer, Prudence Plunkett, Sondra Porter, Rosie Roppel, Sheri Skelton, Pat Truman, Tammy Vanwyhe, and Scott Christian.

Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas Writing Project
Samuel Totten, Director, had two entries, "First-Person Accounts of the Holocaust" and "Holocaust Education in the United States," published in The Holocaust Encyclopedia, edited by Walter Laquer (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001).

California

South Coast Writing Project
Beth Yeager, 1989 Fellow, was recognized in December as an outstanding educator by the Anti-Defamation League. In March, she was among only a dozen or so educators selected throughout the nation by the Carnegie Foundation, which promotes research within the teaching profession.

UCLA Writing Project
Holly Ciotti, 1996 Fellow, has had her article "Including Parents in the Fun: Sharing Literary Experiences" published in the May 2001 issue of English Journal. Ciotti teaches 9th grade English and 11th grade AP English. She taught the Young Writers Workshop during 1999 and 2000 and has taken part in several teacher-research and special interest study groups through UCLA.

Connecticut

Connecticut Writing Project at Storrs
Sarah Molinoski, 1998 Fellow, Executive Board member, and teacher at Horace Porter School; and Winter Caplanson, 1995 Fellow and teacher at Bolton Center School, earned National Board Cerification.

Delaware

Delaware Writing Project
Jones Elementary School, a Delaware Writing Project Partnership School, and the Delaware Writing Project were selected by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce to receive the Superstars in Education Award in the partnership category for their work on improving their teaching of writing and their students' writing performance from kindergarten to fourth grade.

Aleta Thompson, 2000 Fellow and Cape Henlopen High School teacher, received first prize from the Delaware Press Association for her work as the advisor of Cape Henlopen's school newspaper, The Viking Ventures. The paper is in its 31st year of continuous publication and Aleta has been its adviser since 1984.

Jo Anne Deshon, 2000 Fellow and third grade teacher at Downes Elementary, received an MBNA grant, Best Practices in Education Award, for her and a colleague's proposal, I Spy Literacy: Empowering Students to Succeed. Their award was one of nine for the year 2000 that was chosen from over 500 programs that the MBNA Excellence in Education Grants Foundation funded.

Christine Evans, Co-Director and 1998 Fellow, and Deanne McCredie, 1998 Fellow and Milton Middle School teacher, published "A Report Writing Vingette," a chapter in the newly released text, A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Lorin Anderson, David Krathwohl, and James Rath, eds. NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.). Evans also presented two sessions, "Reading and Writing Informative Text" and "From Standards to Instruction to Assessment: Making the Links," at the International Reading Association Professional Development Forum, Exemplary Practices in Early Literacy Development: Research-Based Practices, in Pittsburgh on March 9, 2001.

Florida

Jaxwrite Writing Project
Denise Rambach, 1991 Fellow and new Co-Director, won the Chevy Malibu Teaching Excellence Award for the southeast region. Her class was one of 25 selected out of over 1,000 entries nationwide. She teaches in an inner-city high school in Jacksonville, Florida.

Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project
Betsy Bunte, 1997 Fellow, has been named a state-level semifinalist for Teacher of the Year in Georgia. Betsy has already been named Teacher of the Year for Cobb County, one of the largest districts in the state.

Renee Kaplan, 1999 Fellow, was selected for the Armonk Teacher Fellowship Program to study in Germany, June 16-30. Fifteen educators from the state, mostly supervisors, will participate in the program facilitated by Dr. Eddie Bennett from the DOE. The focus is on political, economical, educational, and cultural factors affecting Germany today as a reunited country.

W. Scott Smoot, 1999 Fellow and history, drama, and English teacher at Walker School in Marietta, had an article he wrote in the advanced institute in 2000 published in the March 2001 issue of Voices from the Middle. The article, "An Experiment in Teaching Grammar in Context," tells of Smoot's frustrations and few successes using historical primary sources and grammar concepts to teach students to get more from what they read.

Hawai'i

Hawai'i Writing Project
Jean Hara, 1996 Fellow, has been awarded the Hawai'i Business Association President's Award for providing high standards of leadership in business education. A business education instructor at Leeward Community College, Hara has previously been named Professor of the Year for the State of Hawai'i by the Carnegie Foundation on the Advancement of Teaching (1996) and won The Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching (1997).

Joseph Tsujimoto, former NWP Task Force member and Punahou School teacher, had his book, Lighting Fires: How the Passionate Teacher Engages Adolescent Writers, published by Heinemann, 2001.

The following five community college teacher-consultants have been named "learning champions" for their respective colleges: 1997 Fellow Leigh Dooley, Kapi'olani Community College; 1991 Fellow Ellen Ishida-Babineau, Windward Community College; 1983 Fellow Vinnie Linares, Maui Community College; 1991 Fellow Joni Onishi, Hawai'i Community College; and 1992 Fellow Cynthia Smith, Honolulu Community College. They will focus on a system of faculty renewal, thanks to a $1,000,000 private sector grant to the Community College System.

Illinois

Chicago Area Writing Project
Co-director Lynn Harris is running for the Middle Level Section Steering Committee of the National Council of Teachers of English. Along with teacher-consultants Susan Ansai, Griselle Diaz-Gemmati, and Sharon Frost, Harris is also a contributor to a new edition of Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8, edited by Junko Yokota (NCTE 2001).

Kentucky

Western Kentucky University Writing Project
Galena Fulkerson, 1992 Fellow and Language Arts Supervisor for McLean County Schools, reports that two of McLean County Title 1 elementary schools were deemed State Distinguished Schools recently. Only six schools in the state of Kentucky won this prestigious award.

Louisiana

National Writing Project of Acadiana
In February, Sandy Hebert LaBry, Supervisor of English, Speech, and Foreign Languages for the Lafayette Parish School Board, was elected to serve on the Kennedy Center's Partners in Education Program Advisory Board. She is one of seven people who serve in this capacity. The three-year term involves participation in developing program policy, structuring the annual meeting, and maintaining strong communication with a regional sector within the network.

Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project
Richard Louth, Director, received one of the 2001 Humanities Awards at Louisiana Endow-ment for the Humanities ceremonies held April 5 at the Governor's Mansion in Baton Rouge.

Maine

Maine Writing Project
Gayla LaBreck, 1999 Fellow, earned National Board Certification this past year.
Jeff Wilhelm, Director; Tanya Baker, 1997 Fellow; and Julie Dube, 1997 Fellow, had their book, Strategic Reading: Guiding Students to Lifelong Literacy, 6-12, published in March, 2001 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann/Boynton-Cook).

Massachusetts

Boston Writing Project
Richard Harrington, 1995 Fellow and Middle School English teacher in Quincy, has a syndicated column entitled "Do You Know That?" in Recall, a newsletter devoted to information on the Civil War.

Ellen Peterson, 2000 Fellow and fourth grade teacher at the William Search Primary School in Weymouth, was selected for the MCAS Development Assessment Committee for 2001-2002. The committee will assess questions for upcoming statewide tests.

Michigan

Eastern Michigan Writing Project
Co-directors Rebecca Sipe and Cathy Fleischer won two of the four Distinguished Faculty Awards at Eastern Michigan University this year. Sipe won the Junior Faculty Teaching Award for those teaching five years or less at EMU. Fleisher won the Research Award for her work in teacher-research and her recent book, Teachers Organizing for Change: Making Literacy Learning Everyone's Business (NCTE, 2000).

Missouri

Greater Kansas City Writing Project
Maridella Carter, Schools Director, earned National Board Certification in Adolescent and Young Adult English.

New Jersey

National Writing Project at Rutgers University
In its first year as a writing project site, the National Writing Project at Rutgers University hosted its first Winter Writing Conference on February 10. Over 100 teachers from over 50 schools attended. Five new teacher-consultants presented versions of their demonstrations and all three directors spoke, joining keynote speaker George Hillocks, Jr., for a very full day.

NORTH CAROLINA

Capital Area Writing Project
Ruie Pritchard, Director, co-authored with Jon C. Marshall and Betsey Gunderson an article entitled "Professional Development: What Works and What Doesn't" that was published in Principal Leadership, February 2001. Sponsored by funding from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., the research on 18 randomly sampled school districts across the United States indicates that a district vision focused on learning processes of children, not on test scores, is the most effective. The authors state what NWP teachers know to be true: "Two districts, for example, use writing as the fundamental teaching-learning tool for all students in all curricular areas. As a result, everyone in these districts--principals, teachers, and central office personnel--were required to become skilled in writing instruction through district-sponsored and teacher-led professional development training."

North Dakota

Red River Valley Writing Project
1999 Fellow Glori Bradshaw, a first grade teacher at Valley Public School in Crystal, North Dakota, had her article, "Back to Square One: What To Do When Writing Workshop Just Doesn't Work," published in The Quarterly (National Writing Project, Winter 2001).

Jane Kurtz, Acting Director, participated in Laura Bush's inauguration project called Laura Bush Celebrates America's Authors Day, January 20, 2001. Jane was 1 of 13 children's authors from across the nation who were invited to join Mrs. Bush in her push for literacy and recognition of the importance of reading. Jane has published several young adult novels and numerous children's books, including one about the flood in 1997--River Friendly, River Wild.

Oregon

Oregon Writing Project at Eastern Oregon University
Norma Barber, 1997 Fellow and Co-Director, has been named Oregon's Teacher of the Year for 2001. She will co-direct Eastern's satellite summer institute in Bend, Oregon, this year.

Oregon Writing Project at Willamette
The June 2001 issue of the Willamette Journal of the Liberal Arts, co-edited by Robin Fromherz, 1999 Fellow, and Karen DeShon Hamlin, Co-director, will include teacher narratives from the following: Glen Bledsoe, 1996 Fellow and Board member; Dan Blus, 1996 Fellow; Mary Jane Cagle, 2000 Fellow; Amy Dietz, 2000 Fellow; Robin Fromherz; Lorelei Gilmore, 1996 Fellow; Karen DeShon Hamlin; Kathy Hamlet, 2000 Fellow; Karen Holm, 2000 Fellow; Steve Jones, Co-director; Ruth Elliott Perkins, 1998 Fellow and Board chair; Michael Reinbold, 1999 Fellow; Lois Rosen, 1997 Fellow; Kate Russell, 1998 Fellow; and Brett Stonebrink, 2000 Fellow.

Pennsylvania

Northwestern Pennsylvania Writing Project
Linda Rider, 2000 Fellow, received the Spirit of Teaching Award from the Erie Reading Council in January 2001.

Western Pennsylvania Writing Project
Gail Ghai, 1994 Fellow, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Poetry by the editors of Heart magazine for her poem, "At the Ganges." She was runner up in the Icarus poetry competition, judged by Ted Kooser, with three of her poems published in the winter 2001 issue. She also made the honors list for Taproot's 13th annual writing contest.

Marilyn Bates, 1990 Fellow, had her article, "Teachers, Take Charge" published in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, August 2000.

Melanie Taormina, 2000 Fellow, won second place in a fiction contest sponsored by Upper Case, the newsletter of the St. David's Christian Writers' Association, for the opening of her novel in progress, Samuel's Bell. Her poem, "Fifteen," was published in the March 10, 2001, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Anita Byerly, 1992 Fellow, was the featured poet in the March online edition of www.poetrymagazine.com. Her poems were recently published in City Paper, yawp, and the Sandburg-Livesay Anthology.

Sharon McDermott, former Project Administrator, was awarded a $10,000 Pittsburgh Foundation arts grant. She was recently published in Prairie Schooner, Pearl, and Southern Poetry Review, and has had a poem included in the anthology A Joyful Excess: Poetry at Play, January 2001, Sarabande Press. Her chapbook, Voluptuous, will be published by Ultima Obscura Press.

Deborah Nugara, 1996 Fellow, had her poem "For Tommy" published in the winter edition of Time of Singing, a magazine of Christian poetry.

South Dakota

Dakota Writing Project
Betty Thomas, 2000 Fellow, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in March 2001. The award honored her as one of the country's best K-12 mathematics and science teachers, with a $7,500 educational grant for her school and a five-day trip to Washington, D.C., to receive the award and to share her expertise with other recipients. Betty, who teaches first grade at Springfield Elementary School in Springfield, South Dakota, is a team leader for DWP's partnership with the Bon Homme School District.

Texas

Greater Houston Area Writing Project
Nancy Votteler, Co-director and seventh grade teacher, won the Teacher of the Year Award from the Texas State Reading Association. The award is given for teaching merit, recommendations of principals, colleagues, children, and parents and is also based upon leadership. Votteler is currently president of Kappa Delta Pi and the Bay Area Reading Council.

South Texas Writing Project
Randy Koch, 1998 Fellow and 1999-2000 Summer Institute Guest Director, had his article "Composing Myself" published in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, March 12, 2001. The article discusses the writing process and presents 2 of the 59 sonnets Fithian Press has accepted for publication in the book Composing Ourselves.

Maria Eugenia Lopez, 1999 Fellow and Martin High School language arts teacher, was named District Teacher of the Year for Laredo Independent School District.

Carlos Flores, Administrative Director, was named Laredo Community College's Core Curriculum Director.

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