Cheryl Crill - 2004 Fellow If you’ve ever wanted to know more about just how the National Writing Project works or how it goes about funding and supporting all those local state sites, you have to apply to attend the Annual Meeting. I learned so much from my trip to Pittsburgh this past week, and I feel so much more certain about how and why things work the way they do. I also have a much clearer idea of just how many opportunities are available when you choose to stay actively involved in the RMWP. All past Fellows are invited to be a part of the leadership team which means that you can choose to be part of the development and design of all kinds of programs: some currently underway and others still in the idea stages. Each year, I learned, our site is going to continue to grow in the number of participants as well as the number of services and programs we can offer to benefit other teachers and their students. Some sites have been around for over 20 years and the services they provide are just amazing. We all need to stay involved so we too can provide services to Northern Colorado’s teachers, especially in a time when education is so unstable. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Photo by Armand Wright - courtesy of the National Writing Project Did you know that the National Writing Project is written into the No Child Left Behind act as a provider of training for highly qualified teachers. It doesn’t matter how you feel about the bill itself, but we should all be working diligently to recruit teachers to this program that has the ability to completely refine the way we teach and in turn transform the skills and accomplishments of our students. Based on the initial conversations between those of us who had the amazing opportunity to attend this year’s annual meeting, you can expect to see leadership opportunities arising in various forms which might include: coaching at the Invitational Summer Institutes, helping prepare and facilitate the summer retreats for teachers, organizing and facilitating a new Young Writer’s Camp (think of how amazing it would be to connect your inspired student writers with writers from other schools in the area) which could become a summer program as well, influencing the groundwork for a New Teacher Institute that would offer professional development, support and collegiality for teachers in the first few years of their careers. And this is only the beginning. The possibilities for how the RMWP might continue to impact teachers and education in Northern Colorado is as vast as the energy and enthusiasm of our past Fellows. If your daily routine is wearing you out or dragging you down, get rejuvenated by getting re-involved in the RMWP. The opportunities are endless!!!