Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Teacher Consultant


2008 Spring Meeting - National Writing Project
Join Me April 3rd and 4th
Sarah Lorenz

Meet your colleagues in the nation's capital on April 3–4, for the 2008 NWP Spring Meeting. Always an exciting event, the meeting provides writing project teachers and leaders an opportunity to share their classroom successes with members of Congress and with each other.

I'd like to invite any of you to apply to accompany me to Washington D.C. for the annual NWP spring meeting. It's April 3-4, 2008 (Thursday and Friday). All your expenses will be covered. On Thursday, we'll be working with other TC's from around the state of Michigan to meet with legislative aides and/or representatives and tell them more about the NWP. This is lobbying to encourage continued funding for NWP, and it's really interesting and exciting. (Don't worry--we can rely on some of our NWPM colleagues to do the hard work and do most of the talking.) I went for the first time last year, and it was a great experience. On Friday, we'll meet with the entire NWP group for the spring meeting and sessions.

I'd especially love it if someone would like to work ahead of time to contact one or more of our representatives with an opportunity to see some student writing/publishing/etc. and/or bring student work to DC. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter has the 11th district, which covers the following, much of EMWP territory:

City of Belleville
Canton Township
City of Dearborn Heights
City of Garden City
City of Livonia
City of Northville
Charter Township of Northville Website
City of Plymouth
Charter Township of Plymouth
Redford
Van Buren Township
City of Wayne
City of Westland

He is not an active supporter of the NWP, but he lives in Livonia and has school-aged children. He visited my school once for an event, so I think he is a good candidate to bring on board as a supporter. If you teach in any of these cities, think about contacting him and telling him about your experiences with the NWP.

So let me know if you are interested in coming to DC. If not, feel free to go ahead and let your representatives know if you'd like to see funding continued for the NWP.

Thanks!
Sarah Lorenz, Professional Development Coordinator, EMWP and State Coordinator, National Writing Projects of Michigan