Central Michigan University

Thursday, May 14, 2009

CMU becomes site for National Writing Project

New site to bring technology to schools in central and northeastern Michigan

CMU English faculty members (left to right) Marcy Taylor, Troy Hicks and Elizabeth Brockman met with Bruce Penniman, former director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, and Peter Kittle, a teacher-consultant with the Northern California Writing Project, to discuss development of the Chippewa River Writing Project.

Photo by Robert Barclay
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Media Contact(s):

Heather Smith
989-774-1702
hutch1hl@cmich.edu

Michigan teachers will benefit from professional development in writing and technology through a new site of the National Writing Project at Central Michigan University. The establishment of the Chippewa River Writing Project makes Michigan the third largest network of National Writing Project locations in the nation.

The National Writing Project, a federally funded professional development program with nearly 200 sites, provides over 7,000 programs for K-16 teachers across the country, reaching more than 135,000 participants in 2008. The CRWP was one of ten new sites established in the U.S. this year.

"We aim to develop programs unique to CRWP that will distinguish us in the state and nation by addressing the issues that face us in northeastern Michigan. We will do so by utilizing technology for distance learning and building on the strengths of the English department and interests of local teachers," said Troy Hicks, a CMU English faculty member and director of the CRWP.

Hicks is optimistic about the impact the writing project site will have on teachers in the area.

"My goal is to establish the CRWP as a site that partners with teachers in suburban and rural settings throughout northeastern Michigan, utilizing technology to both support their professional learning as well as to become a key component in their own teaching," Hicks said.

Along with the focus on technology, the site will differentiate itself from other sites across the state by partnering with other CMU departments and programs to create topic-specific workshops.

"The focus of individual sites is really based on the interest of teachers," said Bruce Penniman, former director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project and one of two representatives from the National Writing Project who visited CMU as part of the CRWP's initial site development work in February. "As their interests develop, the strengths of the site develop as well. If a university has a particular strength, it is natural to focus on utilizing that program."

The first summer institute will be held from June 22 to July 16. Participating teachers will study successful classroom strategies for teaching writing, read and discuss research, and improve their knowledge of writing.

More information on the Chippewa River Writing Project can be found at http://www.chippewariverwp.org.

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