Was such an honor to be asked to present on a panel for Refugee Writing Across a Lifespan, and to highlight the research work from Syracuse that led to all the work at the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University. As of a week ago, I officially hit a milestone with grants and fundraising and am still shaking my head at what has been accomplished since 2014. This summer, we will have served over 1,000 young people in CT with our Young Adult Literacy Labs, including Ubuntu Academy, our two-week literacy lab for immigrant and refugee youth. In Atlanta, my goal is to highlight how this summer work has become yearlong work through the excellence of Jessica Baldizon and William King.
The presentation features highlights from previous publications, but sets up a framework of how that academic work was married with the National Writing Project philosophy to create the phenomena that is CWP! I'm a visual learner, so tend to present less with text and more with photographs from the years: they trigger the story, and I am at TESOL to tell the story.
This is the first time, however, I've been to this conference. I'm sort of solo, except for the names of the other presenters on the panel that were asked to speak. I've been to Atlanta before with my CWP teaching crew for NCTE and while walking by Sal's Liquor Store I said, "Oh, now I remember downtown Atlanta." That was the year my teachers got CrAzY!!! It was a blast and very unforgettable.
I'm also in a hotel so have a nicer bed and pillows than I'm used to (I should simply get a new mattress - I sleep so much better in hotels).
Finally, looking forward to meeting new TESOL friends today...last night at dinner I struck up many conversations with total strangers who gave me more insight on what to expect from this! It seems like an enormous crowd!
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