March 18, 2016
SVSU offers summer writing workshop for local teachers
Saginaw Valley State University will seek to empower K-12 teachers in the Great Lakes Bay Region to better advocate the joys of writing to their students, thanks to a generous gift that will support a week-long writing workshop.
The SVSU-based Saginaw Bay Writing Project will be sponsoring a Writer's Workshop for Area Teachers from Monday to Friday, July 25-29, at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio in Midland. Sessions are planned from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The week-long agenda includes writing seminars, evening reading sessions by various Michigan authors, complimentary lunch and dinner each day of the workshop, as well as lodging at the Holiday Inn in Midland.
This workshop will include a keynote address from Penny Kittle, author of “Write Beside Them,” a book published in 2008 that explores how best to teach writing to high school students.
Participants also can take advantage of an opportunity to obtain 25 free State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH) credits or two SVSU credits, paid for by participants.
Organizers say the week-long workshop will inspire teachers interested in rediscovering the power of writing. The program will achieve that goal both through discussion of best practices, as well as workshops aimed at crafting, sharing and discussing teachers' writing.
“We know that educators who work to become better writers themselves will be more effective when teaching writing to their students,” said Helen Raica-Klotz, director of the Writing Center at SVSU and the Saginaw Bay Writing Project. “We want students throughout our region to experience the joy of writing while also improving their writing proficiency.”
The cost for participation is $150 per person, due to the support of the Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation.
“We greatly appreciate the generosity of the Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation,” Raica-Klotz said. “Their desire to support teachers made this possible. We are grateful they recognized SVSU's strong commitment to supporting teachers of writing in our community and chose to partner with us.”
Those interesting in participating can register online at www.svsu.edu/sbwp/vadabdowworkshop/. For more information, contact Marilyn Brooks, assistant director of the Saginaw Bay Writing Project, at mtbrooks@svsu.edu.
SVSU's Saginaw Bay Writing Project, founded in 1993, promotes literacy throughout the Great Lakes Bay region. The initiative offers professional development for teachers interested in growing both as writers and as writing teachers.