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11/5/1998 12:10:00 AM Writing Project Celebrates 10 Years BY DAVID KAPLAN In 1988, educator Marvin Hoffman brought about 10 HISD teachers together to talk about their students' writing and their own writing. Something quite beautiful grew from that gathering. It was the first School Writing Project workshop, a joint venture of the Rice University Center for Education and the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Since then, hundreds of teachers have helped thousands of students find their voices as writers, allowing them to exercise their imaginations and reflect on their lives. Many have been minority students from inner-city schools. At an Oct. 16 10th anniversary celebration at Farnsworth Pavilion, several HISD teachers praised the program for all it has done for their students and themselves. Carolyn Walker, a Yates High School English teacher, told of her special-education student who recently composed his first short story and is "beside himself. It's hard to express the joy he feels over his success." Terri Goodman, a Bellaire High School advanced English teacher, said the School Writing Project's teacher writing workshops have kept her "alive in the classroom and helped to build bridges with other teachers." The celebrants also saluted the guest of honor, Marvin Hoffman, founder of the School Writing Project, who currently lives in Chicago and still serves as the program's consulting director. After being presented with a book of poetry and a crystal paper weight engraved with the message "Thank you, Marv," Hoffman told the admiring audience that he was glad to see the program thriving and "going off in new directions." At the event, Hoffman and Linda McNeil, co-director of the Center for Education, recalled how the program began. When McNeil approached Hoffman with the idea of a writing project for HISD that would benefit both teachers and students, he was a T.H. Rogers School English teacher with an extensive background in teaching, writing and teacher education. Hoffman says the first thing he did after talking to McNeil was "look at my own sense of isolation" as a teacher and "my own need for reflection." McNeil says that she and Hoffman came to realize that teachers would need some time to develop as writers if they were going to teach writing and instill in their students "a writer's voice, a love of writing and an ability to make writing a part of thinking." To achieve its mission, the School Writing Project established semester-long writing workshops for teachers. The program is comprised of 10 interrelated teacher development workshops for elementary and secondary teachers and trains about 80 HISD teachers each year. The after-school workshops have done more than improve writing skills. They've helped teachers overcome a sense of professional isolation by establishing a friendly, collegial school atmosphere. Noting a sad truth that most teachers end their education when they get their teaching credentials, Hoffman said the School Writing Project enables teachers to prolong the learning process. He also noted that "a lot of what we do together [in the workshops] could be described as therapy." Sharon Smith, the School Writing Project's interim co-director and a 6th grade reading teacher at Sharpstown Middle School, said that all of her professional and personal relationships with other teachers have been rooted in the writing project, and noted that she's known teachers "who were at the end of their rope" until they entered the workshops. The School Writing Project has also enabled Smith to have "a trusting relationship" with her students, and to relate to them "writer to writer." An outgrowth of the School Writing Project is East End Stories, a magazine containing poetry, essays and short stories written by HISD students. The magazine is coordinated by Milby High School English teacher Chris Wood, who has found that the authors "love to see their name and their work in print. There are so few outlets for student expression," said Wood, who noted that the School Writing Project has also "helped me become a better teacher." During the 10th anniversary celebration, several HISD high school students whose work has appeared in East End Stories read from their work. Milby High School junior Jeanine White read her moving and unflinching portraits of several family members. Each spring, the Center for Education will showcase a few of its outstanding HISD student writers with readings at Farnsworth Pavilion. Reflecting on the success of the School Writing Project, McNeil said she feels gratified every time she hears stories of "a big lanky basketball player and a shy immigrant student finding their voices and becoming writers." McNeil noted that a recent national study found that school/university partnerships tend to have a life of about five years, whereas the Rice/ HISD School Writing Project partnership continues to grow in strength. "This is fairly unique in the country," she said. Furr High School math teacher Sheila Whitford is among those who are glad the program is still going strong, because of what it's done for her students and for how it's nurtured teacher "networking." "Forever the School Writing Project has changed my life," said Whitford.
"It's a rainbow I hope never goes away." |
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