Waking Up Thankful for Many Things, But Most Importantly the @writingproject Family, Its Investment In Me, & the Possibilities We Can Bring Forward to Teachers & Youth

Sweating is a given. I worry about making all come together the way I envision it in my head: presenters, young people, buses, books, Keynotes, writing, Open Mic, and growth. As crazy as this sounds, yesterday went extremely smooth and I couldn't be happier. Small investments in National Writing Project sites like CWP can make monumental differences in the lives of young writers and the teachers who work with them. I experienced this first in Louisville, and yesterday, 8 educators did the same for their students in southern Connecticut. The testimony arrived at the open-mic, but also in the messages that followed all afternoon and evening.

I was extremely thankful that Darshna Katwala, Director of the Long Island Writing Project, traveled an hour and a half to visit Fairfield to present to young people, but also to network with teachers in our area, including the incredible William King. 

I am also extremely thankful for Ibi Zoboi's willingness to grace all of us with her brilliance and for penning Star Child, which we could use to catapult new writing for over 116 girls. We had a goal of 96. We definitely reached that. 

The first child that came to the Mic was the one who caused me to tear up. She spoke from her heart and said, "I don't want to read what I wrote, because I thought writing was supposed to be sad and confessional of my own fears. I realized today, however, that writing is empowering, and I should be using words to push for a world I believe in...one with joy and hope." This is definitely a credit to Rose Brock's words and Ibi Zoboi's keynote. This student also shouted out the presenters of sessions she attended and how she sees another world for what she can be as a human being. 

I loved, too, hearing kids come from Lauren Anderson's session on envisioning their own business, and how they coined the term, "I want to be a She-EO of my own company." One girl said she wanted to own a series of body shops to repair cars. Boom. That was wonderful.

I'm proud of my two graduate students, too, Darlene and Ally, who jumped from their coursework into a session on revisioning fairytales to create stronger women characters. And my colleagues from across Fairfield University who stepped in to lead powerhouse sessions for K-12 youth. 

I will be processing for a few weeks, but I walked away from the success yesterday simply feeling blessed that I fell into the National Writing Project. We are humans of NWP and once we've encountered the philosophy, it is easy to spread to others.

Hope wins. Investing in children and teachers. It's that easy.

We are a collective, 

   selected, elected 

as cultivated monarchs

in a flight for existence.

We are on the road to Diva-hood, 

   lily pads, & college grads,

    in a universe of snapping fingers

      (how the tarot cards linger

       on our tomorrows).

We are Connecticut,

  questioning the who, how, where, why, & what

    of this life-thing & making sense 

       of the senselessness, 

         the messiness 

           as we finesse ourselves 

             into better beings.

We are the future,  

   with giants from the past, 

     helping us to sustain & last

       our possibilities

          as we stand on their shoulders.

We are the point

   with a serendipitous bond

     to The Great Whatever,

       tattooed to our hearts & minds,

looking at the world 

              & how each womyn finds

                 her greatness.

We are the collective,

collected and cultivated,

initiated, percolated,

in a world of words,

writing our lives and finding our stars

in a galaxy of tomorrow’s dreams.