Dakota Writing Project

by Sharon Olbertson, Kilian College

Lindsay Sorben, DWP board member, and I, (Sharon Olbertson), represented DWP at the annual National Writing Project Spring Meeting in Washington, D. C. on Mar. 29-30, 2007. Over 300 representatives from about 29 states were in attendance, probably one of the largest groups ever to attend this conference.

The kickoff meeting provided delegates with packets to deliver to the legislators, including flyers describing the impact and extent of the NWP over its recent history. In 2005-2006, 7,527 programs were conducted at NWP sites. The number of educators served was 137,018. Lindsay, math teacher that she is, calculated that roughly 24,000 students have been served by the Dakota Writing Project over its history. This figure seemed meaningful to each office that we visited. (A variable which she perhaps overlooked was the number of former students who are now in the classroom as teachers, continuing to use NWP materials!)

Since I had been particularly interesting in the “Effective Strategies to Improve Writing” published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, I included a summary of this report in the legislative folders, as well as some commentary on how this affects schools. Our legislators need to see that, 1) DWP pays attention to research, and 2) Research is telling us to do things differently. Too many people still think of writing the way it was presented when they were in school.

Our visits to the legislative offices were quite satisfying. Senator Johnson, continuing to recover from his stroke and surgery, was represented by one of his aides. Erin Barry is quite knowledgeable about the writing project as well as Senator Johnson’s strong support for the program. Trying to keep Senator Johnson’s paperwork to a minimum, his staff explained that he would not be signing the letter of intent this year, although his vocal support would continue.

Since the vote on Iraq spending was on the floor that morning, we did not expect to see our legislators at all. (Those who were to speak at the kickoff meeting were not able to be there.) We met with Senator Thune’s aide, a person new to subject, but eager to learn. She appeared impressed by the fact that NWP crosses all disciplines and grade levels. Though not on the agenda, she raised the issue of merit pay. We took the opportunity to describe to her how teachers could be affected by many uncontrolled variables, thus making it hard to discern where the actual “merit” lay.

In the middle of the conversation, Senator Thune returned to his office and visited with us for some time about the National Writing Project. Once again, we stressed the broad influence of the program. Senator Thune’s interest appeared genuine, so we are hopeful that he sees NWP as a student issue, rather than a political one.

As with the other visits, we did not expect to see Representative Herseth. In addition to the crucial vote in Congress, Ms. Herseth was to be married in two days! In past years, Ms. Herseth has shown herself to be an enthusiastic supporter of the writing project, and also very cognizant of writing issues. To our pleasant surprise, Ms. Herseth returned just as we were leaving—time enough for her to express her support for NWP.

In brief, we felt we had three very productive visits in our legislative offices.

The meetings on Friday began with the featured speaker’s topic of teachers and research. Her point was that little of the research on writing was actually getting into the hands of all teachers. I found myself agreeing, based upon my own experiences. While a full-time teacher, I certainly did not take the time I should have to keep up on research. Now that I am semi-retired, I read more of the research, but am not in a position to do much with it! That is why I summarized the “Effective Strategies” report and get it into as many teacher hands as I can.

I also attended roundtable discussions on reading in the content areas and nonfiction writing. What both of them had in common was their NWP approach of relying on the expertise of the teachers in attendance. While both presenters had materials to initiate conversation, they quickly became figures secondary to the topic at hand. Time flew by as attendees gave suggestions, asked for advice, shared success stories—all the things that teachers do when they get together. I shall paraphrase one insight that I found particularly meaningful (on NCLB or education in general): “When we put our faith in scores rather than the people in the classroom, we have lost sight of what it’s all about.”

With teachers helping teachers—indeed—that’s what it’s all about!

by Lindsay Sorben, DWP regional liaison

I left the Midwest on a chilly, drizzly March morning for Washington, D.C., packed for a week of Capitol-Hill-lobbying, cherry-blossom-viewing, Smithsonian-walking, and Metro-riding excitement. Delayed flights and terminal sprints got me to our nation’s capital in time for delayed baggage and shuttle-bus searching. Despite the mishaps of traveling, I sat in awe of the city in the back seat of the Super Shuttle van, admiring Roman architecture frosted with pink and white blossoms.

With Sharon Olbertson as my trusty cohort, I enveloped myself in the mission at hand, fully believing in what that mission was and how much of a difference we were going to make for the future of the National Writing Project and Dakota Writing Project. It began with a social (in the style of NWP) and our itinerary of the next two days. Mission: to win over South Dakota legislators and earn their signatures for renewed funding in 2008.

It was a busy day on Capitol Hill. Votes were being taken on the Iraq spending bill, and legislators were committed to various meetings. We knew that meeting with the legislators was going to be difficult.

First Stop: Senator Thune’s office. Sharon and I spoke with Mr. Thune’s education aide. We spoke of National Writing Project philosophy and practices. We also spoke of specific goals and concerns of South Dakota teachers. Fortunately, being a member of the DWP Board of Directors, I had just attended our annual planning retreat, which allowed me to share a few of our visions for the coming year. I explained the plans of using the Dakota Digital Network (DDN) to reach teachers across the state and “broadcast” four DWP teacher-consultants’ writing demonstrations. I expressed DWP’s intentions of being a service to the South Dakota Department of Education. Senator’s aid was diligent in her notes, assuring us that our efforts would be shared with him.

As we were about to leave, Senator Thune himself stepped into the meeting room! Much to the delight of both Sharon and me, we were able to give an abbreviated speech to Senator Thune. We knew he was a hard sell and a busy man. With an assured nod and grin, the Senator left us, and we soon left the aide. We knew that it was unlikely that he would support the Dakota Writing Project with his signature, as he had not done so in the past, but at this point, we were still hopeful.

Second Stop: Representative Herseth’s office. Once again we met with another education aide. This time it was a fellow South Dakotan, and we needed no extra explanation of our state’s geography and challenges because of that. Ms. Herseth has long been a supporter of the Dakota Writing Project, so we went into an easygoing meeting. The speech was simplified, knowing that we had her support. We did include our plans for the year, however, which left the aide excited about the possibilities.

Just as we were leaving her office, Representative Herseth walked through the door! We said a brief hello and wished her well on her wedding only two days later.

Third (and final) Stop: Senator Johnson’s office. We hoped that we would get the chance to meet with Mr. Johnson. Instead, we met with his long-time education aide to education, Erin. Senator Johnson has always supported the cause of NWP, but, unfortunately, his signature would probably not be on the list because of his medical condition and concerns. We were assured, however, that his support was still with us. It was a candid conversation, and Sharon and I left in good spirits, ready to experience D.C.

The challenges of getting to Washington, D.C. were long since forgotten while I walked the Mall and gazed at the cherry blossoms. Not since my year teaching in Japan had I seen such a display. Truly breathtaking!

Friday’s round-table discussions were enjoyable and enlightening. I sat in a session that addressed the concerns that many other sites shared with us: getting our name out there, assisting with the needs of teachers in our region, and continuing the purpose of NWP. Such great discussions and ideas came out of it! I am anxious to tell my fellow DWPers all about it!

My mission had concluded, but my adventure in D.C. had only begun. I took in the Cherry Blossom Festival, including the opening ceremonies. I attended a Smithsonian-sponsored concert kicking off their tribute to Japan and Japanese culture. I walked. I rode the metro. I ventured solo for a day in our nation’s capital. It was an amazing experience.

So I returned to the Midwest from 60- and 70-degree weather to a blustery 40-degree, rainy day, threatening snow and ice. Once again, I was delayed and reassigned a different flight; I missed that flight and was reassigned to a later flight. Unfortunately, my luggage was lost, somewhere between Chicago and Minneapolis. I am uncertain if I was more upset over leaving spring and coming back to winter, losing my belongings, or missing out on what I had left behind in Washington, D.C. I captured as best I could in pictures and words, but those days are only marked by the steps I took where history took place and continues to take place. It was just another NWP stamp in my passport of experiences. I look forward to the next page and next mission.

by Sharon Olbertson, Kilian College

Lindsay Sorben and I had completed our “official work” in Washington, D. C.: we had gone to each of our legislator’s offices and lobbied for their continued support of the National Writing Project; we had attended the NWP roundtable sessions about various writing topics. Now we were simply enjoying the many attractions the city had to offer.

As we rested on a park bench, inhaling the scent of the blossoming cherry trees, a fit but elderly gentleman strode close to our bench. I caught a brief glance of the red logo on his shirt—T-u-s-k– with the rest covered by his jacket. My mind immediately connected this to earlier images of our venture: a cluster of people with red blazers, a brief news clip on T.V., a Good Morning America story by Robin Roberts from many months ago.

“Sir!” I walked toward him. “Are you one of the Tuskegee airmen honored at the Capitol this morning?” He was somewhat taken aback by this total stranger reaching toward him, asking to shake his hand. “I want to thank you,” I explained, “for what you did for our country.”

What this man had done, as I remembered from Robin Roberts’ story about her pilot father, was to fly missions during WW II as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. Things being what they were at that time in history, black pilots had their own, separate unit. These 800 men had done courageous things but had not been recognized for their valor.

Until that day—March 30, 2007—when several hundred survivors of that unit were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the president of the United States, the son of another courageous pilot!

I babbled something about the privilege of meeting a genuine American hero. I shook his hand again. He showed us the medal—a gold disk that filled the entire palm of his hand! And then, Mr. Sam Broadaxe, with grace and humility, explained. “If there had been a debt to us that hadn’t been paid, it was paid today.”

The impact is still with me. Lindsay and I later realized that Mr. Broadax had to be in his 80s, but he looked and moved like a much younger man. I thought of all the Tuskegee airmen who went to their graves unnoticed, unappreciated. Not knowing anything about the deployment of units during WW II, I allowed myself to think that perhaps these airmen had helped protect a navy man like my own dad.

I don’t know what Mr. Broadaxe did when he returned from his military duties. I suspect that for 60 years after the war, he was probably just like my dad after the war—an ordinary man. But unlike my dad, this Congressional Medal of Honor recipient spent years in separate businesses, separate restaurants, separate washrooms, separate schools.

What a loss for our country to have overlooked/ignored/denied the heroes in our presence!

And THAT is the most significant memory I have of Washington, D.C., 2007!

Washington, D.C., NWP, and lost luggage

by Patti Lee Konechne, 5th & 6th Grade Teacher, Oral Interp. Coach, Drama Coach at Kimball School, and DWP Fellow-Summer, 2004

I had been to Washington, D. C. before this spring—last summer, in fact. I am a seasoned traveler. My family and I have taken many trips by car throughout the United States. Plus, I’ve lived in some pretty big cities in my time—Fort Knox, Kentucky and the South Bronx in New York, to name a few—so I felt pretty prepared to take on flying as a travel experience. It didn’t take long, however, for me to find out that traveling via plane is light years away from the type of ground transportation I’m used to.

My travel tribulations began, in, of all places, Sioux Falls. We were delayed 45 minutes at the Sioux Falls airport. As it was, I only had one hour to switch planes in, (Dare I say these next words? Run for the Ativan if you must!) the Chicago O’Hare Airport. I arrived at gate F9 in Chicago with less than 15 minutes to get to gate B12, and literally ran through the airport, barreling through children and elderly people along the way. I must have said, “Excuse me, please” 200 times! I finally arrived, panting, at my gate, where I was ordered to “Hustle!” as the gate was closing within one minute.

Two hours later I arrived at Reagan International Airport in Washington, D. C. Eager to officially begin my NWP experience, I ran downstairs to baggage claim, anxious to grab my luggage and get going. I waited. And waited. After about 45 minutes of watching everyone else’s luggage circle around the carousel, I trudged to the United Airlines office for some assistance. It turns out that my luggage was in Florida but “should be back anytime.” I was told to have a cup of coffee, relax, and wait. Because of the late hour, coffee was nowhere to be found. After waiting what seemed an eternity, my luggage arrived from Florida—finally, success! Now that all of the bad luck was out of the way, I knew the rest of my trip would be awesome!

At the Washington Court Hotel, the concierge and bellhops were totally at our disposal. And, a little pampering was exactly what I needed after my traveling quandaries! At the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D. C., if you want it, you got it—for a price, of course. Michelle and I had a beautiful view of the U. S. Capitol Dome from our window. I spent so much time gazing at it, and soaking it in, both in the middle of the night and during the day. (I say “middle of the night” because ambulance and police sirens droned 24/7: I was awakened many times each night.) In the D. C. sunshine, the U. S. Capitol stood tall, proud of all the important work being done inside during the day. At night, when illuminated, it seemed to be resting from the long, tiring hours required of it, yet, quietly, patiently, waiting for the next day to begin.

Thursday: A Day with Legislators

On Thursday, April 6th, 2006, our day began in the Atrium room of the Washington Court Hotel. We received our packets and were given highlights and statistics of the NWP. Our group of 320 was privileged to be graced with the presence of several legislators, who came to the Washington Court Hotel that morning to personally thank us for all of our efforts in working with NWP, for being there to help secure continued legislative support, and for trying to convince other legislators not yet “on board” to understand the importance of this national program.

The following legislators were present to speak to us: a spokesperson for Democrat Representative George Miller from California; Republican Senator Thad Cochran from Mississippi, who was NWP’s original sponsor in the Senate; and Republican Representative Roger Wicker from Mississippi. Next, we watched a PowerPoint Presentation from Inverness Research Associates. They are an educational research and evaluation group located near San Francisco, and have evaluated NWP for over ten years. This presentation pointed out specific statistics, such as how NWP helps teachers get help with teaching not only writing, but also teaching reading and using technology; how NWP institutes promote classroom practices associated with writing achievement; and how NWP continually helps provide high quality professional development to teachers across the nation. We were then given a “Pep Talk” and a list of do’s and don’ts to keep in mind while visiting with our legislators: then they turned us loose!

Our “Roles” in Talking with Each Legislator

Michelle shared her experience with DWP, both as a participant and facilitator. She talked a lot about the technology connections and how technology continues to evolve in DWP. Michelle gave the history and purposes of DWP, and gave the nuts-and-bolts information in explaining how DWP is set up and run.

I gave my perspective as a classroom teacher in a public school. I shared how my connection with DWP as a participant carried over to how I use this information in teaching my students. I shared how I felt DWP has contributed to the upward creeping, albeit slow, rise in my fifth grade students’ writing scores. I explained how I implement many strategies learned at DWP into my writing curriculum, how I sometimes act as a “consultant” when other schools see our writing scores rising and would like me to share with them what I am doing in my classroom to bring scores up. Therefore, many ideas/strategies I learned in DWP have rippled from the facilitators, to me, to my students, to other teachers in other schools, to their students, etc.

Representative Stephanie Herseth

Our first stop was to the Cannon Building, where we visited with Kelsey M. Johnson, Representative Stephanie Herseth’s Administrative Director. Kelsey was not familiar with NWP/DWP, so we filled her in. She is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, so both Michelle and I established a connection with her right away. Kelsey was young and pleasant, and seemed truly and genuinely interested in us and what we had to say. Kelsey told us that Stephanie Herseth believes in and supports DWP/NWP and assured us that we can count on her support. Yes, we were “preaching to the choir,” but it was a great first stop!

Next, we headed to the Russell Senate Building for our meeting with John Thune. We didn’t get very far. Constitution Avenue was fenced off, and there was a crowd of people milling about.

“Bomb threat,” a red-haired woman next to us said cheerfully. “This happens at least once a week. Wait an hour or so, and you’ll be back on your way.”

She did not appear fazed by this, nor did anyone else. We plopped down on a bench and passed the time by staring at tan, muscular, sweaty construction workers for about forty-five minutes.

Senator John Thune

We first met with Mollie Zito, Thune’s Legislative Assistant. She was young, friendly, and very responsive. John Thune soon joined us. I had met John Thune previously several times, and so we engaged in some pleasant, friendly conversation. Thune listened to us politely and attentively, was courteous and seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say. As we were leaving, Michelle asked him if we could count on his support, and Thune replied, “I agree that NWP is a very worthy cause.” We had our picture taken with Senator Thune.

After he left, Mollie told us that Thune didn’t sign the “Dear Colleague” letter because there are so many groups that ask him for his support, and he chooses only a few to commit to directly. Upon leaving, we informed Mollie that Republican Senator Thad Cochran was NWP’s original sponsor in the Senate.

Senator Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson was very much pro-active in running the meeting and had done his homework. He was very rushed but gave us his full, undivided attention, even when his Legislative Assistant was standing at the door, indicating that time was up. Johnson was very interested in knowing about steps being taken to better train teachers to teach writing, and how the No Child Left Behind Act affects the teaching of writing and the classroom in general. Michelle was able to give information about steps being taken at USD to help teachers become better prepared to teach writing, and I was able to share my personal experiences and insights on NCLB’s effects on writing, and generally in the public education classroom. Johnson was very interested in what we had to say and stated that we can count on him for continued funding of NWP. We also had our picture taken with Senator Johnson.

In all three of our S. D. legislators’ offices, I felt as if it was “old home” week. It seemed that every legislative assistant was from South Dakota, and/or had attended a S. D. University. I saw people I know from South Dakota, or had a connection with in each office. We even ran into my friend Elaine Roberts, who was in D. C. lobbying for state legislative issues. Elaine continues to be a strong supporter and advocate of education and teachers in South Dakota.

The Rest of the Day

Our day continued with a wild ride in a taxi. I asked our cabdriver to go to the Jefferson Memorial where there were supposed to be beautiful cherry blossoms. I was determined to get my picture taken next to the brilliant, blooming, infamous cherry blossoms. He misunderstood us and took us to the WWII Memorial. We re-explained our destination, and two u-turns later in heavy traffic, we were there. Once we arrived at the Jefferson Memorial, our cab driver, who had just cut across six lanes of traffic to do a u-turn, twice, in heavy traffic, with people gesturing and honking horns at him, was reluctant to pull over inside the quiet, traffic-free parking lot, so we could get a picture. We finally convinced him to slow down, and I quickly jumped out. Michelle snapped my picture in front of the dead cherry blossom trees. Yes, dead, everywhere we went, we were told the cherry blossoms had just died out, yesterday, or that we had just missed the beautiful blooms by a day or two.

We did manage to engage our cabbie in a bit of conversation. He was originally from Ethiopia. He informed us that in Washington, D. C., it costs $1,500.00 to rent a one-bedroom apartment, and the cost of utilities is astronomical. For example, it costs $600.00 per month just for garbage collection! This information reminded us once again not to take for granted the cost of living in our home state of South Dakota.

On Thursday evening, we attended a social at the historic Post Office Museum, where we were served some exotic hors d’oeuvres. Because Michelle is pretty connected in the NWP world, I had the opportunity to meet many fellow NWP members from across the U. S. and do a little networking myself.

Friday’s Meeting . . . and Some Conclusions

On Friday morning, we were privileged to be able to listen to the keynote speaker, Glynda A. Hull from the University of California-Berkeley. She runs a program called DUSTY-Digital Underground Storytelling for Youth. She works with students of different racial, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds. She shared many examples of how she uses multimedia modalities to articulate pivotal moments in their lives. Her stories and slides shared her successes with students of all ages, and we were all moved and inspired by the power of her work and this program.

Round Table discussions were next. I attended one called “Improving Students’ Academic Writing.” Jayne Marlink, from the California Writing Project, shared samples of student writing and talked about the writing program she helped create, its history, and its effectiveness. She explained that they really had to work hard at convincing peers, administrators, and parents of the program’s merits. However, the program is now very successful as evidenced by students’ writing and continued improvement in students’ writing scores.

I also attended a Round Table discussion entitled, “How Does the Teaching of Writing Change After the Summer Institute?” This was eye opening. I found out that, nationally, some teachers actually go back to doing what they’ve always done in the classroom and don’t apply any new strategies learned. Some teachers, however, act as mentors for other writing teachers and try to implement and adapt ideas to their own personal teaching situations. I heard quite a few success stories that had been ignited by the Writing Project Summer Institute experience.

Even though my trip had gotten off to a rocky start, my NWP Spring Meeting experience turned out to be awesome! It was amazing to witness first hand how “Washington D. C. works.” It was so exciting to be in and amongst those that make decisions about and for our country. I strongly encourage you all to consider attending next year.

—Patti Lee Konechne

P. S.: I arrived back in South Dakota on Saturday, April 8th. My luggage arrived the next day.