Awards and Accolades

By: NWP Staff
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 10, No. 3
Date: 2005

California
Inland Area Writing Project
Marilyn Cram Donahue, 2001 fellow, published the following articles: "How to Cope with Stress,"Current Health 1, January 2004; "Break That Bad Habit!" Current Health 1, February 2004; "Plan Ahead for Safe Camping," Current Health 1, March 2004; "Healthy Teeth Mean Happy Smiles," Current Health 1, April/May 2004; and "Bullies Beware!" Current Health 2, April/May 2004.

Richard D. Hartwell, 1999 fellow, published "Creating the Literary Magazine: An After-School Project" in California English, June 2004, and "Don't Worry, It's Just Communist Propaganda" in English Journal, September 2004. Hartwell teaches at Vista Verde Middle School in Moreno Valley.

Antoinette Holmeyer, 2003 fellow, published "The Social Studies/English Connection" in California English, spring 2005. Holmeyer is a resource specialist for Baker Valley Unified School District in Baker.

San Diego Area Writing Project
John Adams, 1997 fellow, was named the Augustinian Educator of the Year by the Augustinian Secondary Educational Association. Adams is the English department chair at St. Augustine High School in San Diego, where he has taught since 1985.

Connecticut
Connecticut Writing Project - Fairfield
Jack Powers, l986 fellow, was honored as the Connecticut Poet of the Year by the Connecticut Council of English Teachers.

Delaware
Delaware Writing Project
Debbie Blanco, 2003 fellow, was 2004–2005 Teacher of the Year at H. B. Dupont Middle School in Hockessin.

Sharon Crossen, 1999 fellow, was selected as a Rodel Fellow for the 2004–2005 school year. Fellows conduct research studies and publish the results, which may affect legislation on school-related issues.

Ann Darden, 2000 fellow, was selected to present with author Ross Burkhardt on successful midlevel poetry instruction at the annual National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Pittsburgh this fall.

Stephanie Dewitt, 1999 fellow, was named 2004–2005 Teacher of the Year at Richard A. Shields Elementary School in Lewes.

Kathleen Gilbert, 2004 fellow, was named 2004–2005 Teacher of the Year at Springer Middle School in Wilmington.

Sherrie Goldyn, 2002 fellow, was named 2004–2005 Teacher of the Year at Gunning Bedford Middle School in New Castle.

Florida
National Writing Project at Florida Gulf Coast University
Jo Healy Stahl, 2002 fellow, published "Working Across Two Continents: An Intercultural Pen Pal Project," coauthored with Johan Bengtsson, in the Swedish journal LMS Lingua.

Jo Healy Stahl and Patricia Wachholz, director, published "Voices Across the Atlantic: Turning Research into Purposeful Writing" in Talking Points 16 (2) (May 2005).

Sara Kohlhauff, 2003 fellow, Jo Healy Stahl, and Patricia Wachholz published "From Brownies to Books: Reading Buddies Across Town" in Florida English Journal 40 (2): 45–51.

Sara Kohlhauff was named Lee County Elementary Language Arts Teacher of the Year.

Sara Draheim, 2003 fellow, won the Collier County Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Nancy Loughlin, 2004 fellow, was a finalist in the Lee County Schools Golden Apple Award competition.

Georgia
Coastal Georgia Writing Project
Nancy Remler, director, received the 2004–2005 Professor of the Year Award from the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE).

Heather Glover won the Outstanding Future English Teacher of Color Award from the GCTE. Glover participated in the site's 2005 summer institute

Lisa Niedbala Ammons, 2004 fellow, was a finalist for the 2004–2005 High School Teacher of the Year Award from the GCTE.

Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project
Renee Kaplan, 1999 fellow, received the 2005 Distinguished Educator of the Year Award from the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. Kaplan was selected as one of 17 educators to participate in the first Regional Educational Corps of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The goal of the program is to train master teachers to assist in implementing the museum's educational programming on a national level. Kaplan teaches middle school language arts.

Jackie Varner, 1998 fellow, was named the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year for her region and is now eligible for the statewide contest. Varner teaches at Brumby Elementary School in Marietta.

Hawai`i
Hawai`i Writing Project
Esther Mookini, 1988 fellow, has won the John Dominis Holt Award for her lifetime contribution to Hawai`i book publishing for her work in Hawaiian language translation. Mookini retired from Kapi`olani Community College in Honolulu, where she taught the history of Hawai`i.

Joni Onishi, 1991 fellow, received the Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching at Hawai`i Community College, where she teaches accounting.

Two teacher-consultants were named Hawai`i State Department of Education Teacher of the Year for their districts: Gail Anne Pottenger (2000 fellow), Honolulu District, and Rene Relacion (1993 fellow), Kaua`i District. Pottenger teaches at Washington Middle School in Honolulu, and Relacion teaches at Kapa`a Middle School in Kapa`a.

Ruth Tschumy, 1982 fellow, had "Reinventing Education" published in the Insight Section of The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 5, 2004. Tschumy is a consultant for the Hawai`i Educational Policy Center.

JoAnn Wong-Kam, 1984 fellow, was a presenter at the 2004 National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Indianapolis for a panel called "Using Multigenre Writing to Reveal the Voice Within" and a discussion leader for the Elementary Section Get-Together. Wong-Kam teaches at Punahou School in Honolulu.

Illinois
Illinois State Writing Project
Sarah Parlier, 1999 fellow, and Jim Meyer, 2004 fellow, participated in a collaborative project between graduate students at Illinois State University (ISU) and classroom teachers in four area schools. The teachers expanded and redesigned curriculum units to include more nonfiction texts, and the graduate students are conducting research in the classrooms. This "New Ways to Use Nonfiction" project was featured on a local news broadcast on WJBC, October 25, 2004, and in newspaper accounts in the Peoria Journal Star, November 4, 2004, and the ISU student paper, The Daily Vidette, November 2, 2004.

Kentucky
Western Kentucky University Writing Project
Karen Marcum, 1999 fellow, was named curriculum specialist for Green County middle and high schools.

Maryland
Maryland Writing Project
Suzanne Dolan, 2002 fellow, was named Teacher of the Year at Cross Country Elementary School in Baltimore. Dolan was also selected as a Fulbright Scholar and will travel to Mexico this year.

Dorothy E. Hardin, 1986 fellow, is principal of Pikesville High School, Pikesville, which made Newsweek's top 100 best high schools in America list, the only Baltimore metro area school to ever break into the top 100. There is an MWP connection behind the school's success in advanced placement courses.

Massachusetts
Central Massachusetts Writing Project
Susan Roney-O'Brien, 2002 fellow, published the following poems: "Hephaestus Surveys His Handiwork," in Margin, a journal of magical realism; "Refuse, 1970" in Slipstream; and "Forsythia" in the Frost Place anthology, The Voice of Parted Lips II. Roney-O'Brien also had "September," "Geese," "Legacy," and "Instructions from the Farmwife" translated into Chinese and published in A History of Twentieth Century Poetry by Zhang Ziquing of Nanjing University in China. Roney-O'Brien has served as judge for the New England Association of Teachers of English Poet of the Year Award since 2002.

Michigan
Eastern Michigan Writing Project
Jim Schaefer, 2004 fellow, was mentioned in the "Reading and Writing" section of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter, The Education Innovator (Jan. 18, 2005), for his work on "Riprap," a website and public access television show dedicated to academic literature, serious reading, and the love of language and writing.

Upper Peninsula Writing Project
Gloria Balmes, 1996 fellow, was awarded a grant from the Marquette Area Public Schools Educational Foundation for two projectors.

Sandy Bonsall, 1996 fellow, and Donna Larson, 2000 fellow, attended a Lucy Calkins Professional Development Conference in Detroit on a grant sponsored by Wal-Mart.

Sandy Bonsall was 2005 Teacher of Year in the Neguanee School District.

Tim Clancy, 1997 fellow, was named 2005 Teacher of Year in the Ishpeming School District.

Tim Clancy and Sandy Bonsall were honored by Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated for Excellence in Teaching in April 2005.

Mike Cook, 2000 fellow, was a member of the Marquette Senior High School team that won the 2005 Literacy Award from the Michigan Reading Association.

Mississippi
Live Oak Writing Project
Jane Knebel, 2005 fellow, was named Teacher of the Year at Bay High School in Bay St. Louis.

Diane McCarty, 2003 fellow, was named Teacher of the Year at Second Street Elementary in Bay St. Louis.

Mary Ann O'Gorman, 2004 fellow, was named Teacher of the Year at Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs.

Connie Roth, 1997 fellow, was named Teacher of the Year by Bay-Waveland School District.

New York
Western New York Writing Project
Suzanne Borowicz, co-director and 1998 fellow, published "City Voices, City Visions: Digital Video as a Literacy/Learning Supertool in Urban Classrooms," coauthored with Suzanne Miller, in Urban Education with an Attitude, edited by Lauri Johnson, Mary E. Finn, and Rebecca Lewis (State University of New York Press, 2005).

Ohio
National Writing Project at Kent State University
Brigette McConnel, 2001 fellow, and Allison Baer, 1997 fellow, were appointed full-time instructors in the Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies Department at Kent State University's College and Graduate School of Education. Both McConnel and Baer work in literacy studies.

Diana Snyder, 2002 fellow, was appointed to the Roya Committee on Middle School/Junior High School Literature at Charles A. Mooney Middle School in Cleveland.

The following teacher-consultants published poems in the fall 2004 issue of Ohio Teachers Write, a publication of the Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, edited by Mark Jamison (1998 fellow): Anthony Manna (director), "Black Child"; Joe Paris (2001 fellow), "She Wanted" and "Before Words"; William E. Oesch II (2004 fellow), "Phone Silence"; Mark Jamison, "Hunters" and "Grade Nine, Santana"; Pauline Beck (1997 fellow), "Owl Alone" and "Haiku Poet"; Nancy Thaler (2003 fellow), "Maybe This Will Be a Poem"; Darla Grace Wagner (co-director), "[untitled]"; Terry Murko (1998 fellow), "Bert's Radio" and "Goodbye, Neighbor"; and Megan Bergert (2004 fellow), "Stitching."

Oklahoma
Oklahoma Writing Project
Freeda Richardson, 1987 fellow, received a Golden Apple Award at an awards banquet at Rose State College in Midwest City in November 2004. A former student of Richardson's read an essay on how Richardson influenced her decision to become a creative writing teacher.

The following teacher-consultants earned National Board certification in November 2004: Starla Howard (1999 fellow) from Will Rogers Elementary in Shawnee, Stephanie Janz (2004 fellow) from Deer Creek Elementary in Edmond, Jamie Johnson (2003 fellow) from McKinley Elementary in Norman, Patsy Orth (2003 fellow) from the Crooked Oak School District, and Audra Plummer (1998 fellow) from McKinley Elementary in Norman.

The following teacher-consultants were named Teacher of the Year at their schools: Karin Perry (2002 fellow) of Lakeview Elementary in Norman, Lori Newmark (2000 fellow) of Bryant Elementary in Moore, and Candice Palmer (2004 fellow) of Houchin Elementary in Moore. Newmark and Palmer were finalists for Moore Teacher of the Year.

Oregon
Oregon Writing Project at the University of Oregon
Linda Christensen, 1980 fellow, was featured in "Closing the Gap," about closing the student achievement gap, in the January 2005 issue of NEA Today. Christensen is a high school literacy curriculum specialist for Portland Public Schools.

Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania Writing Project
Valeri Helterbran, 2002 fellow, published "Women as School Principals: What Is the Challenge?" coauthored with S. A. Rieg, in the Journal of Women in Educational Leadership 2 (1): 13–22. Helterbran also published "Collaborative Early Childhood Professional Development: Building from a Base of Teacher Investigation," coauthored with B. S. Fennimore, in the Early Childhood Education Journal 31 (4): 267–271.

Linda McPherson, 2000 fellow, received the 2003 Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. McPherson taught in the English department before her retirement in June 2004.

Texas
Pearl of the Concho Writing Project
Cheryl Hines, director, and Selina Jackson, co-director and 2003 fellow, published "Pearls of Wisdom" in the January issue of English in Texas. The article recounts the positive impact their first summer institute had on the lives and careers of their participants.

South Texas Writing Project
Randy Koch, 1998 fellow, had his poem "No Man's Land" published in The Texas Observer, August 13, 2004.

West Virginia
Central WV Writing Project
Jo Lambert Blackwood, co-director and 1990 fellow, received the annual Christa McAuliffe Award for lifetime achievement in Washington, D.C. at the annual National Foundation for the Improvement of Education ceremony, December 2004. Blackwood is chair of the social sciences department and director of teacher education at the University of Charleston.

Marshall University Writing Project
Kathy Manley, 1995 fellow, was honored as Arch Coal Teacher of the Year in West Virginia.

Laura Tracy Baisden, co-director, was awarded Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year for Logan County Schools.

Wyoming
Wyoming Writing Project
Connie Currie, director, presented "Women Who Teach Writing: The Relationship Between Writing Process and Writing Pedagogy," coauthored with David Howell, at the 2005 University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Conference at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on April 15, 2005. The paper was based on their ethnographic study of the site's 2004 summer institute.