MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo has received a $30,000 grant from the National Writing Project to establish the Lehua Writing Project. Teachers will be invited to participate in summer and school-year programs focused on improving student writing and learning.

Leading the local writing project effort is Jeannine Hirtle, UH-Hilo associate professor of education. Co-directing is Cathy Ikeda, literacy coach at Kamehameha Middle School.

“The writing project is a highly regarded professional development program that gives teachers the techniques to create an entire classroom of students who can write well and clearly,” Hirtle said. “Writing, as we know, is essential to academic success, so we want our Big Island teachers and their students to reap the benefits of this influential program.”

The National Writing Project, a federally funded professional development program with nearly 200 sites including the new site in Hilo, provided more than 7,000 programs for K-12 teachers across the country last year, reaching more than 135,000 participants.

The first Lehua Writing Project summer institute is scheduled June 15-July 2. Participating teachers will study classroom strategies for teaching writing, read and discuss research, and improve their knowledge of writing by writing themselves.

— Find out more:
National Writing Project: www.nwp.org
Lehua Writing Project: hirtle@hawaii.edu, cathyi@hawaii.edu