Day 3 of @WeirFarmNPS and @CWPFairfield Collaboration - Bring On The Students & Writers

As Park Ranger Kristin Lessard, teacher Rich Novack and I rethought how to do Reading Landscapes: Writing Nature in the 21st Century for year 3 - part of the National Park Service and National Writing Project collaboration - we wanted to create a track for high school writers. Why? We wanted to do professional development for writers, artists and teachers, but to also bring forward kids (so it could parallel the Young Adult Literacy Labs hosted during summer months at Fairfield University).

This morning, we are expecting 30 writers from Wilton High School as well as a group of writers from Fairfield Ludlow with our mission to be inclusive, youth-centered and perspective-rich (no pun on Mr. Novack's first name there).

In some ways, this is the most exciting day of the 3 thus far, after a teacher/artist/writer orientation and a phenomenal National Day on Writing that was open to the public.

I returned home yesterday afternoon and Glamis greeted me with absolute guilt, so I walked her in the rain. I'm not sure that was smart, as it was cold, too. She was thankful to move, however, as she was cooped inside all day (while I had the privilege of being at a National Historic Site.

The leaders have worked hard to make all of this possible and today the teachers in the workshop get to share their expertise, too. We also will be honored with writer/artist/author Karen Romano Young who wowed us during our summer institute and who will share her craft with students today.

Here's to the project. We are local (I'm loco), and this is National. That's the love and power of the National Writing Project work. God only knows what I'd be without them.