Getting Excited For September's @StoryFestCT @WestportLibrary - August Motivation To Move Beyond the Rain

This morning, I'm heading into a professional development workshop (one I'm not leading for a change) and, with that, I'm officially kicking off the Fall semester. Summer was a blast and 20 educators spent 110 hours in the Connecticut Writing Project's Invitational Leadership Institute and another 200 youth participated in an additional 180 hours of youth programming through our Young Adult Literacy Labs.

That's what 6 weeks looks like from June to August. I had a few days as a breather to visit the folks and to check out more of Chitunga's world, but I came back early this week to get things going, including a day of educators participating in the 2019 Saugatuck StoryFest at the Westport Public Library. I'm especially looking forward to The Inclusive Storyteller - Beating the Odds with Hope, One Narrative at a Time, as all the writers were used this summer at the teacher institute, which naturally trickled into the programs we hosted for youth. This is the result of the John H. & Ethel G. Noble Charitable Trust (Deutsche Bank Trust Co, NA as trustee) investment in our National Writing Project work in Connecticut...a summer of exploring writing and inclusivity with ALL students. Our learning and presentations will come down the road, but for now...on the 28th of September...an educator panel will kick-off at 10 a.m. with Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Ronnie Sidney, Sonya Huber and Rose Brock.

The theme, Connecting Communities through Story, shares much reciprocity with the Ubuntu philosophy adopted in all CWP programming. We are, because they are.

Meanwhile, my day began yesterday when I opened the back door to let Glamis out and a bug flew in my mouth (I crunched down on it, thankfully, before it stung). It was a wasp. Yuck. Then, later in the evening after the storms went through, I took Glamis for a walk, only to have a lone gray cloud, surrounded by sunshine and blue sky, follow us and rained down. We both came home drenched.

Ah, but I also had a great conversation with my friend, and grant partner, Nicole Brown of Hill Central. We touched base because one of our graduates was hired as an 8th grade ELA teacher at her school. We touched base to discuss this news and ways CWP might help out this fall. She said in the phone, "Oh, my God, Crandall. I swear that as soon as I picked up the phone, a rainbow appeared outside my house."

I'll take that, with the rain, with the wasp, and especially with the incredible work ahead this September. Happy Back To School, Everyone!