I wasn't up ten minutes when I got a request from one of my favorite students of all time who is doing a project on CWP for a course she is taking at Fairfield University. Yes, two people call me Crandall....Dr. Kelly Chandler-Olcott and Stefania. I should also note that the Sealey-Wooleys call me Crandalls - the 's' is Ish-Specific.
Stefania is creating an Adobe Sparks presentation about the National Writing Project, and she says, "Just drop me a couple of lines." I should probably note, too, that Stefania was my service learning associate when she was a sophomore, and has been a leading go-to undergraduate with all our summer programs. She follows me with a whiteboard organizing all my thoughts as I mumble them out lout.
My response to her? Well, it was free-form and what was contained in my head once I trapped it with a CWP-Fairfield cap to cover my COVID-19, morning head. Later in the afternoon I was telling my red-headed sister, Susan the Floridian Red-Headed Pelican, that I sort of like what I ranted to Stefania. So, I'm posting it here, too:
“Robin Hood, the legendary outlaw made famous through tales of 15th century England (the crafty imp who went up against the rich and powerful and who thieved resources for the poor), has been a metaphor for me as a Director of a National Writing Project site.
With 24+ years in urban education, and as witness to the lack of funding and resources for America’s schools, I look for ways to do what is just and right. We know what successful writing instruction looks like and we know that young people can write, are willing to write, and use writing for purposes meaningful to them. Yet, because of bureaucracies, administrations, testing services, and Panopticism (Foucault, 1977) in our schools, best practices for teaching writing are often absent.
As an educator, the National Writing Project mission saved me. After attending the Louisville Writing Project in the summer of 2001, my teaching practices were reborn. Finally I was with a band of women and men who subversively chose to do what is best for kids, by standing up to poor decisions made by bureaucrats. We stood as strong literacy leaders who were taking instruction back into our own hands. The teachers-teacher-teachers mission provided a community for like-minded individuals who loved teaching, were passionate about kids, and who had the strength to stand up for what is “write". Of course, all of this was/is accomplished through committing words to the page.
As CWP-Fairfield’s Director, I see my role as a man with thread. I look to communities that may never have an opportunity to interact with one another. I try to use this thread to bring them together. Why? A shared humanity, the core of the Ubuntu philosophy. I am, because we are. Through writing, communities are built. Through sharing writing, communities grow stronger. From the strength of writing, people begin to see how similar they are, rather than the opposite.
So much of our history has created thus vs. them mentality that justifies our zip code apartheid we currently reside in. It’s unjust, and that is why I love doing what I do - helping people to find joy in one another and to celebrate this beautiful thing called life. And for me, the teachers I work with, and the young people we serve, the most beautiful way to celebrate life is through the Power of Words. You gotta write, a’ight!?
Writing is the way to go: it’s therapeutic, informative, educational, reflective, purposeful, entertaining, and healing. That’s why I love what I do.”Welcome back to Monday, y'all. I'm counting my blessings, because I'm still able to work and continue the crazy pace. I spent most Saturday and Sundays continuing the work I do, but also take time to barbecue, run a little further, and watch a movie or two with the Homefront. Ah, but the week ahead?
It's insane. But we got this (hiccup hiccup), especially that book chapter that needs some of that Crandall thread doing its thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment