And They Arrived. The 11th Edition of @CWPFairfield's POWER OF WORDS, the Anthology of Writing Project Programs is Ready to Go

It's hard for me to believe that we are getting ready to mail the 11th edition of POW! Power of Words to the wonderful teachers and youth who participated in the Connecticut Writing Project's programs to the incredible young people and teachers who spend so much creative energy working on their own writing projects. This year, we include the Cultivated Collective, a cohort of 96 writers who participated in school programs to nurture their writing talents (with thanks to the New Era Writers program sponsored by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation). 

It always is a source of pride to work with incredible educators in Connecticut as they bring forward their love for big imaginations, colleges essays, novel writing, and support for students of multiple languages through Ubuntu. There have been so many who have worked tirelessly to bring these traditions forward at Fairfield University within the National Writing Project tradition. 

I know most have moved beyond their summer vacations and camps, already hustling and bustling with a new school year. I'm hoping this year's publication will bring them memories from the work they did last spring and into the summer. 

Portfolio assessment in the State of Kentucky, and all the support of the National Writing Project helped me to realize best practices for teaching writing across all genres and subject areas. The best teachers, too, are writers themselves and POW! is our culmination of tremendous work - a testimony to the research, vision, grant-writing, and teaching in which we stand for.

I know it's Saturday and time for the weekend, but yesterday prepping the mailers to be in the hands of teachers and kids helped me to remember why it is I do what I do. Words matter, especially when nurtured within a community of other writers.