Tom O'Malley Published in My View

Congratulations! to Tom O'Malley, 1986 Fellow, whose personal essay, "There is an Upside to Every Downturn," was published in Sunday's Buffalo News, My View column.

You can read his essay by clicking on the link below:

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/myview/story/573162.html

Tom O'Malley Published!

Our original Fellow, Tom O'Malley, is once more leading the way for us with his publications.
This time in conjunction with the opening of the new Burchfield Penny Gallery at Buffalo State College, Tom reflects on the importance of Burchfield's works.

Lisa Mangione in My View

Lisa Mangione, 2003 fellow (and my writing group sister), was published this morning in The Buffalo News' My View section. Take a look at her essay "It's tough to part ways with a good mechanic." Here's a snippet:

My mechanic broke up with me. Then again, I did cheat on him. After 10 years of fidelity I started to stray, despite the fact that the garage was convenient, the mechanic and his employees were honest, friendly and reliable and the service was solid.

So why did I stray? I believe the adage “you get what you pay for” is a theorem bordering on fact: I paid a premium for such service.

Tom O'Malley in My View (and other interesting Buffalo News tidbits)

Tom O'Malley's essay "Take My Advice, Stay Out of the Attic" appeared in The Buffalo News this morning. It's a humorous essay about the tough decisions we all make in the effort to declutter. Here's my favorite line:

The word attic is derived from “Attica,” the name for the land of the ancient Greeks — a society that accumulated so much junk that museums had to be built all over the world to accommodate it. Thus, in the modern house the attic is the place to put things that don’t fit anywhere else.

Those few sentences rank up with the best that Dave Barry ever wrote. Good stuff. Read the rest of the essay here.

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Two other writing related stories in The News today:

• Read an inspirational story of a Canisius high school student drive to send books to Liberia.
• A pretty good profile of US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
  

Mary Jo Gill in My View

Make sure to venture over to the Buffalo News to check out WNYWP fellow Mary Jo Gill's personal essay "Rainy Days at the Beach Aren't So Bad After All."

It's a wonderful account of her recent summer trip. If you've ever stepped into the muck of Lake Erie and wondered what you were stepping in, this humorous essay will resonate.

Jessica Wagner in My View

Congrats to Jessica Wagner, 2006 fellow, who just had her essay "New School Supplies Offer Us a Fresh Start" published in the My View section of the Buffalo News. Here's an excerpt

The sweltering heat of August itches like a tight wool sweater. The lush lawn becomes sharp brown blades that torture bare feet. The shapeless days of summer begin to turn into restlessness. But in the midst of all this unpleasantness, the anticipation of returning to school bubbles inside my chest.

Make sure you click on the link above and read the whole essay.

As we are all getting ready for new year, it might be a good opportunity to take stock in what we've done and where we're going. Blogger and Colorado Writing Project fellow Bud Hunt recently published an open letter to teachers which makes many valid points.

First. I hope you take lots of risks for the sake of learning this year. Not just for your students, but also for you. Make it a goal to try to learn something in a sustained and meaningful way that has little to do with your classroom life. I’ve been trying to learn photography this year, and while I’m nowhere close to proficient, it has been helpful to be in the mindset of a learner who’s struggling. That’s how many of our students feel everyday.

Use the comments section below to share any thoughts about Jessica's essay, or share your own back to school stories, past or present.

A Big Ol' Congrats

As you may have heard, we all owe a big congratulatory shout out loud to Mary Jo Gill, Kathy Moldenhauer, Carla Thompson and Ruth Hassler, all of whom have been to the NWP National Evaluation Scoring Conference to be held in Chicago in late September. They will join "teacher-consultants from across the country to learn to use and apply the NWP's Analytic Writing Continuum as they score middle school students' writing."

Great job fellows!

Is Homework Working?

Lisa Mangione, 2003 fellow and member of the awesomest writing group ever, recently published an article in Kappan titled "Is Homework Working?" Here's an excerpt:

Unfortunately, the students who most need the practice and discipline of self-guided assignments are the ones who just never do them. The fact that we continually penalize these students baffles me. During the school day, they are the ones for whom you stand on your head, devise rewards, and do whatever works - all in a futile attempt to motivate them. Still, we expect these same kids to skip home, plop down at a kitchen table (where I assume a wholesome snack of milk and cookies is waiting), and spend an additional two or three hours poring over what they refused to do earlier. Interesting logic. We may think that grading homework sends a message that it isn't optional, but the fact is, the students who are most at risk will almost always opt out.

Follow the link and have a read. Feel free to discuss the comments in the comments section of this post.

WNYWP Fellows Publish InnerSessions!

Let's give a Roadhouse Yeehaw! for two WNYWP fellows for the publication of InnerSessions. Here's a bit from the Buffalo News article:

"At 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 7th), Talking Leaves Books at 3158 Main St. will host a reading and book signing event to celebrate the release of InnerSessions, a new collection of individual and shared poems by Linda Drajem, Barbara Faust and Kathleen Shoemaker.

InnerSessions is described as a collaborative book project in which the voices of the three writers meld and diverge as they illuminate family themes, explore the stages of life and take up issues in the wider world. The book opens with a section of poems on Women and Writing that features the voices of the three poets alternately building and commenting on one another, before moving to separate sections for each poet."

Congratulations to Linda who is a 1987 WP fellow, and to Barbara who is a 1988 WP fellow.

Congrats!

Congratulations! to Kristen Frawley (1999) and Jennifer Borowicz (2206).

Both fellows were honored by the West Seneca School District at the Partners in Education Breakfast.

The Partners in Education event is a celebration of education, the West Seneca Community, and the history of the West Seneca School District.

Congrats Salamone!

Please join me in congratulating our newsletter editor, Chris Salamone (2003).

Chris also edits, The Provocator, the newspaper of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. This newspaper has won three Awards of Merit in the New York State United Teachers-New
York Teacher Journalism Competition for union newspapers.

The awards are: Best Front Page Cover, General Excellence and Best News Story. The awards are to be presented to Chris and the newspaper staff in NYC on April 10.

Peaceprints

Congratulations! to Evelyn Brady, who has recently completed editing the book, Peaceprints, a collection of stories, poems and interviews recalling the life and good work of Sister Karen Klimczak, SSJ.

Attached is the flier for Peaceprints with information about how you can purchase it.

Thank you to Evelyn for her work in celebrating Sister Karen's life.

Copies can be purchased at the Buffalo Heritage Site.

WNYWP Fellow's Students Featured on Channel 4

Kristen Frawley, 1999 fellow and West Seneca elementary teacher, was featured on WIVB last week for her students creation of podcasts. You can find the story here and her student podcasts here. Way to go Ms. Frawley!

Josh Jabcuga Published

2003 fellow Josh Jabcuga is slated to have another graphic novel published. In April IDW publishing is releasing The Mummy Movie Prequel: The Rise & Fall of Xango's Ax. He has previously published a graphic novel prequel to Scarface, which received positive press in the Buffalo News, amongst others.

Give it up for Josh! Google this guy. He writes for a lot different online publications.

Tom O'Malley in The Buffalo News

"Original" WNYWP fellow Tom O'Malley was published in the "My View" section of today's Buffalo News. Tom has been published in this section several times. His essay, "Finding Yourself by Getting Lost" weaves lessons and literary allusions into an everyday experience. Methinks he deserves a hearty, collective WNYWP pat on the back. Great job Tom.