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| GKCWP Department of English University of Missouri - KC 106 Cockefair Hall 5100 Rockhill Road Kansas City, MO 64110 816-235-2554 Contact by email |
Project Outreach |
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| How GKCWP Became Involved with Project Outreachment GKCWP initiated its self-reflection during the 2004-05 school year in a series of dialogues, assisted by critical friends from the National Writing Project, and focusing on the relevance of our work to the people we serve, the access of those people to our work as writers and teachers of writing, and to the diversity of our organizational structure and decision-making. During the first year, 2005-2006, we found that the majority of communities impacted by poverty lived within the core of the metropolitan area and within the school districts represented in the urban core, over 80% of students live in poverty. However, our programs seldom served those areas, our leadership rarely represent those areas, and our thinking and planning had not proportionately or equitably opened to those areas. In year two of Project Outreach, 2006-2007, we focused on making the heart of our program, the Summer Institute inself, more accessible, relevant, and diverse. By the summer of 2008, our site had more than doubled the number of participatnts from rural and urban school districts. We had doubled the percent of teachers who participate in GKCWP after their initial experience in the Summer Institute, and we had more than doubled the number of content area disciplines involved in the writing institute. |
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| Where Project Outreach is Headedment Now in its third year, the GKCWP outreach project is expanding access, relevance and diversity to other programs and activities in the GKCWP repertoire. We are re-designing our website to provide more access to diverse populations and diverse thinking about writing. We applied for and received a grant to explore the teaching of wrtiting to English Language Learners and other culturally diverse populations. The spring 2009 ELL Conference provided an opportunity for 25 teacher consultants to come together and share best instructional practice. Our study group continues to meet and explore issues of poverty and best instructional practice. Our decision-making process is becoming more collaborative as teams of teacher-consultants work together to bring more diverse programs and more creative ways of thinking to the future of GKCWP. No longer is the director the sole source of project development or implementation. |
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| Contact: Thomas Ferrel, Co-Director, Project Outreach Network Coordinator E-Mail: ferrelt@umkc.edu |
Who is Project Outreach?
Project Outreach is everyone involved in the GKCWP. Project Outreach is a way of thinking about how poverty affects everything that we do. Every teacher- consultant planning and participating in continuity and professional development programs is committed to looking at his or her work through the lenses of access, relevance, and diversity.
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