MEET THE NCWP 2023 INVITATIONAL DESIGN INSTITUTE FELLOWS!

By NCWP | April 27, 2023

We are excited to introduce the invited fellows for the NCWP Invitational Design Institute! This summer, we are offering our Invitational Design Institute in a new, extended format to allow for deeper engagement and community support as we navigate exciting and challenging ideas together. Please welcome the new cohort to the network of National Writing Project teachers! We are so excited to bring this group together to read new professional texts, write together, share problems of practice, and create the kinds of support they want as educators.

Deanna Davis is an Ohio native who earned her credential and has been living in good ol’ Chico for the past 14 years. Being centrally located in NorCal with an abundance of outdoor destinations in any direction is the attraction. She enjoys being in nature as much as possible, nourishing the mind and body. She has taught middle school for the past 7 years and with that, has gained great insight into our public school system. Soon Deanna will be going back to school herself, something in leadership, with the goal of an even clearer lens into education. But the best thing that she has accomplished thus far is her son, Atlas. He is a ham and she adores him. He’s new, under a year, but Deanna doubts the newness with ever wear off! She is over the moon obsessed; he’s sparked a new craving for adventure and possibility for their family. This brings Deanna full circle, focusing on absorbing as much goodness and education as she can to pass that knowledge to him.

Carolyn Diskin teaches High School English at Redding School of the Arts and is currently in her 8th year of teaching English in Redding. During her teaching tenure she has completed a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction at Chico State and holds English and Multiple Subject credentials from Cal Poly Humboldt. Carolyn has always had a passion for learning. Growing up, her mother was a teacher (therefore her desire to be a teacher blossomed at a young age), and Carolyn herself is a frequent library book connoisseur. Now in her own classroom, her passion for helping others learn and love to read drives her teaching practices. Carolyn aspires to continue pursuing her own education further and is always looking for opportunities to help her colleagues and those around her. She is best described as a smiling, happy presence who is solution driven and constantly motivated to better herself. Her favorite part of being a teacher is the wonderful relationship building it offers and the creative outlet of curriculum creation. Outside of her classroom, you would find her reading in her backyard or chasing around her two sons.

Lukas Harrison grew up in the small town of Colfax, California. This experience has guided his professional and personal passions for serving small, underserved communities. Lukas is finishing his last student teaching semester at Hamilton Elementary in Hamilton City, California. Lukas, a first-generation college graduate, takes pride in fostering relationships with all students and implementing UDL and ELD strategies in the classroom that ensure equitable reading, writing, and speaking opportunities for all students. Outside of the classroom, Lukas enjoys spending time outdoors, exploring new breweries and restaurants, attending professional development sessions, and watching and coaching sports.

“Settle in, settle down, get to reading/writing” is projected every day a student walks into her room, as Simone Hobbs welcomes every class, often with a song of the day blaring. Her sixth grade students at C.K. Price Middle school in Orland, California often hate reading and writing in the beginning of the year, but she has a way of getting them to come around, nudging them with humor, patience, a little goading, and perseverance. One of her favorite quotes is from a student who said, “Reading is just not for me, but Mrs. Hobbs, you make reading better.” Having taught in classrooms for about twenty years as a K-6th grade public and private school teacher, Simone constantly shares her joy of reading and writing by giving her students multiple opportunities and engagement activities to create a culture of kindness and compassion, as well as a love of learning. Teaching active listening and collaboration skills, engaging conversations called “table talk”, and encouraging students, along with building her students’ passion for ELA, is just all in a day’s work. “Keep the pencil moving” if using a journal, and “flying fingers” if typing a Dear Mrs. Hobbs weekly letter, are just a few of her favorite sayings.

Megan Johnson is an Education Specialist teaching RSP English, Reading Intervention and RSP STEM at Corning Union High School in Corning, California. After completing her BA in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2010, she went on to pursue her Education Specialist Credential through the Rural Teacher Residency program. Megan is currently in her eleventh year of teaching, four of those years at Corning High School, and she enjoys helping students find their voices through self-advocacy and guiding students as they grow in their reading and writing. In addition to teaching in the classroom, she is also a Special Education Case Manager and serves as the Special Education Department Chair. When she is not teaching, Megan enjoys spending quality time with her husband and son, camping, exploring the outdoors, and crafting.

Toni Lawson teaches English 9-12 at Oroville High School, changing courses midstream after being hired to originally teach History and Geography there, and embracing her passion for writing and literature. Originally from England, she moved to California with her family as a child and spent summers back in England. Navigating the US education system as a first generation immigrant helped her develop a strong skill for inquiry and a critical eye to the need for decolonizing and diversifying curriculum, which she eventually turned into an undergraduate degree in History from UCSB and a Masters in Secondary Education from Stanford University. After teaching in a humanities based program in the Bay Area, she became a curriculum writer for an ed nonprofit supporting 500 schools across the US. Seeing the need for teachers and increased social emotional support in the classroom during the pandemic prompted her to move back to the classroom where her passions for supporting students directly and creating change at a local level have allowed her to engage deeply this school year. Outside of the classroom she enjoys partner dancing, photography, gardening, cooking, and devouring YA novels while snuggling her monster pup: Toast.

Erin Lizardo is an artist and art educator from Northern California. She holds a BA in Sculpture, Ceramics, and Art History, a single-subject credential in art, and currently is a candidate for a multiple-subject teaching credential. She recently received her MA in Curriculum and Instruction in May, 2023. Erin transitioned away from full-time teaching to complete her MA and now enjoys staying active in the classroom as a substitute teacher while working on curriculum development projects. Erin is passionate about art education, accessibility, and integration. She has lived in Chico since 2003 and is active in the local arts and music community. Erin is married and has two sons, ages 11 and 14.

Liz Lurie is a recent California transplant from Austin, TX. Her teaching experience consists mainly of high school and middle school ELD, several years in K-12 Resource, and a few teaching stints in Spain and Turkey. Liz works as the ELD Consultant at the Tehama County Department of Education, where she supports educators in serving multilingual learners. She is excited to be part of the writing project and spread the word on equity-based writing instruction. Liz loves speaking Spanish, gardening, cooking, exploring all of the beauty that the North state has to offer, reading, and of course, writing!

Cheryl McBryde started her teaching journey by earning a degree in English Education from Chico State and then her teaching credential from the Chico State School of Education. Currently she teaches English at Pioneer Continuation High School in the beautiful town of Redding, California. Cheryl loves making a difference in the lives of her students by helping them reach their potential and inspiring them through literature, especially poetry. When she’s not teaching, she loves to spend time with her family, reading, writing, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Zack O’Neill has worked in Yuba College’s English department for six years. He has taught at community colleges and universities in California, Nevada, Texas, and South Carolina. He has a BA in English from UC Santa Barbara, a Masters in English from Sacramento State, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Carolina, where he was the recipient of the James Dickey Fellowship and editor of Yemassee, the school’s literary journal. He also had a writing fellowship at the University of Houston, where he worked as a visiting assistant professor. He lives in Sacramento and enjoys baseball, reading nonfiction, blogging at comphaunt.com, and attending to various houseplants.

Dana Paz received her BA in Social Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005. She lived and worked in her native Guatemala as a grant writer for international development projects for 12 years. She relocated back to California with her family and received her Masters in Education at Chico State in 2019. She is in her fourth year of teaching English Language Arts to 7th and 8th graders at CK Price Intermediate School in Orland, CA. As an immigrant from Guatemala who found academic success relatively late in life, Dana strives to build her students’ confidence in finding their voice. For her, the best part is the immense variety of what students share and the moments of genius that come through. When she’s not teaching, writing or reading, Dana enjoys long bike rides, hiking, yoga and spending time with her husband and son.

Alex Rainey has been in education for over 15 years and she currently teaches 4th grade at Chico Country Day Elementary in Chico, CA. She holds close to her heart the importance of creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that grants all her learners the space and grace to be seen as who they truly are and can have their voice heard and amplified. As an advocate for equitable and liberatory practices in education, Alex works to ensure students have access to the same opportunities and resources. She is committed to addressing systemic inequalities and creating a more inclusive educational system. Outside of the classroom, Alex loves spending time with her two boys, traveling the world, and immersing herself into new experiences.

Laura Talley has been teaching English in all forms at local community colleges since 2016. She became interested in teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama after completing her BA in English in San Diego. Afterwards, she returned to complete her MA in Teaching International Languages as well as Certificates in TESOL and Teaching Composition at Chico State. When not teaching a variety of ESL or composition classes, she spends time with her family and at the occasional West Coast Swing dance.

Ann Van De Water is originally from Rochester, NY and moved to CA in ’94. She decided to become an English teacher when she was in 9th grade and never looked back! After graduating from Vassar College, Ann taught middle school English for a few years. She moved to CA, got married, and taught high school English. Ann earned her MA in English from Middlebury College, including one wonderful summer in Oxford, England. She is in her 19th year of teaching and currently works at Cristo Rey High School in Sacramento. Ann and her husband have two daughters in college. Her hobbies include reading memoirs and fiction, walking her dog, getting her butt to the gym a couple times a week, and hiking.

Sarah Peterson Young is a sixth grade language arts and history teacher at Chico Country Day School, a K-8 charter school in northern California. She graduated from the Political Science department at Chico State and received her teaching credential from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. This is her twenty-fifth year teaching and her second time participating in the Northern California Writing Project (but her first time participating as a middle school teacher!) She is an avid reader and writer: she’s written curriculum for various institutions including the Smithsonian and CyArk, authored a monthly North State Voices column in the local Enterprise Record newspaper, and is a staff writer for the online publication Outdoor Education for All. She’s currently trying to write The Great American Novel. When found in the wild she’ll be camping with her family or working in her garden.

Maria “Rocio” Zamudio-Perez was born and lived in Mexico up until the age of eight. She graduated from Shasta High School and then continued with her studies at Shasta College. Upon completing her prerequisites at Shasta College, she transferred to Chico State. She graduated with a bachelors in Liberal Studies and a BCLAD Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. She then went onto work in the Early Childhood Field for a number of years. She is currently teaching kindergarten at Gerber Elementary, which she greatly enjoys. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son, mother, siblings and her dog.

NCWP INVITATIONAL DESIGN INSTITUTE 2023

By NCWP | February 6, 2023

APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 1, 2023

This summer, Northern California Writing Project (NCWP) is offering our Invitational Design Institute, formerly known as the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI), in a new, extended format to allow for deeper engagement and community support as we navigate exciting and challenging ideas together. This extended institute experience is open to educators across grade levels (from kindergarten to college) and disciplines. Invited fellows will attend a program orientation on April 29, 2023 (via Zoom). The orientation will be followed by an Intensive Retreat that takes place in-person July 24-27 at California State University, Chico (lodging provided). The retreat will set the stage for classroom inquiry with two fall debrief meetings on October 14, 2023 (in-person) and November 4, 2023 (via Zoom). We will conclude our work together with an in-person celebration on December 2, 2023. Fellows will receive a $1000 stipend for their participation in the summer intensive, and another $1000 upon completing the follow-up sessions. Teachers can also purchase 1-3 professional development units.

Who should apply?

Any teacher (k-college) who wants to think about the teaching of writing with other educators in our service area. Educators who are ready to engage in conversations about equity, anti racist approaches to course design, and ways to create dynamic communities in education. Teachers should come representing learners of every age and from a variety of disciplines–math to social studies–as we believe that language is a part of every area of study. Our goal is to connect rural teachers in our network at the beginning of what we hope is a long career in education by offering ongoing support, resources, and meaningful professional inquiry.

What will we do?

At the center of our beliefs about professional development is that teachers are the best teachers of other teachers. For this reason, teachers in our Invitational Design Institute read new professional texts, write together, share problems of practice, and create the kinds of support they want as educators.

This year, our core texts are Start Here, Start Now by Liz Kleinrock, Linguistic Justice by Dr. April Baker-Bell and En Communidad by Carla Espana and Luz Yadira Herrera. Alongside these books, grade-level specific texts and other resources will act as both lens and anchor to our ongoing conversations and imaginations around our teaching.

Who is facilitating?

The team of facilitators cover a range of grade levels and contexts: Anthony Miranda is an Instructional Coach for Multilingual Learners and a former 7th grade English teacher; Kyra Mello, co-director of the NCWP, teaches at Yuba Community College District and is the former Coordinator of Distance Education; Sarah Pape teaches creative writing at Chico State and is the managing editor for Watershed Review. The team will be joined throughout the institute by other veteran teachers who will facilitate a variety of workshops related to the teaching of writing.

Deadlines, dates and location?

Applications are due on Wednesday March 1, 2023; please APPLY HERE!
- Applications will be screened between March 20 and April 1; invited fellows will be announced the first week of April via email.
Pre Institute Orientation: Saturday, April 29, 2023, 9-12:00 via Zoom
Summer Institute Intensive Retreat:
- July 24-27 at CSUC (lodging provided, details TBA)
Fall meeting days:
- Saturday, October 14, 2023, 9:00-12:00 at CSUC
- Saturday, November 4, 2023, 9:00-12:00 via Zoom
- Saturday, December 2, 2023, 9:00-3:00 pm at CSUC (details TBA)

Are there other details I should know?

Participants will receive a total of $2000 for participating—$1000 for the summer work and and another $1000 in December for the continued work in the fall
Professional development units can be purchased (1-3 CSU credits for $60 per unit).
All materials, including current professional books for participants, are covered by NCWP and will be mailed to teachers’ preferred address.
We will follow the evolving state-recommended COVID protocols throughout our in-person programming.
Applications are due March 1st! We hope you will join us!
Link to application

Meet the NCWP 2022 Summer Institute Fellows!

By Sarah Pape | April 22, 2022

We are excited to introduce the invited fellows for the NCWP Summer Institute! This summer, we are offering our Summer Institute in a new, extended format to allow for deeper engagement and community support as we navigate exciting and challenging ideas together. Please welcome the new cohort to the network of National Writing Project teachers! We are so excited to bring this group together to think about the teaching of writing through conversations about equity, anti-racist approaches to course design, and ways to create dynamic communities in education.

Grace Adcock has been teaching for over a decade. She is currently an English teacher and instructional coach at Shasta High School in Redding, CA. After being raised in the north state and attending Shasta College she completed a B.A. in Human Communication with a minor in Outdoor Recreation and Education at CSU Monterey Bay. She then traveled the world for a year and went back to school to obtain her Masters Degree in Education along with her Single Subject English, Multiple Subject, and Mild/Moderate Special Education credentials from CSU Chico. She taught Special Education in Juvenile Detention Facilities and E.D. programs in the Bay Area at the start of her career before moving back to Redding where she lives with her daughter and husband. Teaching is her major passion in life and she hopes to instill a love for seeking adventure, learning, and being a member of a compassionate community in her students. When not in the classroom, she fills her time with traveling, outdoor recreation, and baseball. She has lofty goals to visit all 7 contents (6 down, 1 to go!), attend a game at all 30 MLB parks (one-third complete), and visit a new national park every year.

Joseph Hill teaches English and Video Games as Literature at the Inspire School of Arts and Sciences. Before taking the plunge into teaching, Joseph worked for 6 years as a bartender in both Davis and Chico. In Chico, he worked at both The Handlebar and The Winchester Goose (which is now sadly defunct). Originally from a one stoplight town in East Texas, he spent some time in Austin before moving to Davis, California with his partner. In Davis, he received a masters degree in English Literature with a creative writing focus. After his partner received a job offer at Chico State, Joseph came to Chico. He has taught at Inspire for the last three years, and began his teaching career in the middle of the pandemic. He is particularly interested in the gamification of education and using video games as another(alternate) mode of literacy. He is excited to learn and grow as an educator. At Inspire, he serves as the Advisory coordinator and is also a member of the Equity team. He also advises the Gay/Straight Alliance and the Film Appreciation Club.

Jania Johnson graduated from Chico State with a Bachelors in English in 2017 where she was named the Outstanding Bachelors of English for her graduating year. In 2018, she completed her residency in the 12-month RiSE program where she also earned her Masters in Education. She has been at Oroville High School for five years: one year as a student teacher and four years independently in the classroom. Jania teaches English 10, English 10 Honors, and AP Language and Composition. For the upcoming school year she will also begin teaching ELD. She has a passion for rhetoric and composition and loves to unpack the power of language with her students. When not in the classroom, she enjoys reading (duh!), hiking, and folding pajamas with humans still inside (a.k.a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu).

Cristy Kidd is a Bay Area native, now living and teaching in Redding, CA. She teaches Communication Studies at Shasta College and, starting in the fall, will be teaching at SCOE’s Independent Study program. She has an inherent inability to grasp the concept of “finishing” school, herself, and, as a result, has a B.A. in Communication, a M.A. in Mass Communication and Public Relations — both from University of the Pacific–and a M.Ed. with an emphasis in ELL Education from National University. Cristy spent two years as part of a cohort exploring effective teaching practices through the Association of University and College Educators, has been certified in ERWC curriculum and, now, is absolutely delighted to be a part of the Northern California Writing Project’s Summer Institute for the second time. Prior to teaching, Cristy worked in marketing and public relations, which she was successful at, but also miserable doing. Enter: education. Outside of school-life, Cristy is an avid reader, has been dancing since she was two, loves to bake, plays Dungeons & Dragons at least once a week, and lives for live music. She is married and the “mom” to two fur-babies. (And, yes, she does sleep, but she also lives for coffee).

Ashley Martinez is from the Los Angeles area and graduated from Chico State with a B.A. in English Education, minor in Organizational Communication, and a teaching credential. Currently, she teaches 8th grade Language (Writing) in Marysville Joint Unified. She has taught for 10 years, all in middle school and wouldn’t have it any other way. She started a Drama program and Literacy Committee at her school, in addition to being a new teacher mentor. When not working, she enjoys watching t.v., eating good food, and spending time with her husband and two sons. Ashley strives to provide her students with opportunities to think and write critically, while providing the best practices for instruction.

Zack O’Neill has a BA in English from UC Santa Barbara (2000), a Master’s in English from Sacramento State University (2008), and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Carolina (2011). He has writing fellowships from the University of South Carolina (2008) and the University of Houston (2012), and has published a short story collection and novella at a small press in New York City (2017 and 2019). His website comphaunt.com has regular updates with stories about education, blog posts, and teaching materials instructors can use.

Dana Paz received her BA in Social Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005. She lived and worked in her native Guatemala as a grant writer for international development projects for 12 years, writing grants in Spanish and English for large-scale projects in rural communities. She relocated back to California with her family and received her Masters in Education at Chico State in 2019. She is in her third year of teaching English Language Arts to 7th and 8th graders at CK Price Intermediate School in Orland, CA. As an immigrant from Guatemala who found academic success relatively late in life, Dana strives to build her students’ confidence in listening to their own voice and writing their own truths, sharing mentor texts from all walks of the wide world we live in. When she’s not teaching, writing or reading, Dana enjoys long bike rides, hiking, yoga and running. She’s also learning piano so she can jam with her 15 year-old son and her husband, who play the drums and guitar (respectively).

Hillary Pierce teaches sixth grade at Chico Country Day Charter School. She is a recent transplant to Chico due to her spouse’s work in agriculture. Hillary grew up in Santa Cruz, went to high school in Italy, and after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2005, spent most of her adult life in New Mexico following a fateful long-distance bike tour to the area. Hillary enjoys the sense of community and endless variety of life in the classroom, and also seeks learning opportunities in a broader context. She has taught in kitchens, science and history museums, gardens, and wildlands. She is currently busy amassing and muddling through more books than are possible to read in a single human lifetime and/or poking around in the forest hoping to identify wild culinary mushrooms.

Denai Rubio is a Fourth grade teacher in Chico CA at a K-8 school. She got her multi-subject teaching credential at Chico State in 2020, 15 years after she first graduated from Chico State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography. She went back to school to get her teaching credential after spending time helping in her children’s classroom and realizing that she loved teaching. When she is not in the classroom you can find her spending time outdoors with her family. She loves camping, backpacking and traveling. She hopes to pass along her love of reading and writing to her students and is excited to be a part of The Northern California Writing Project.

Marta Shaffer is a third-year English teacher at Oroville High School. She graduated from Chico State University with her BA in 2015, and her MA in English – Creative Writing in 2018. She worked as a first-year composition instructor at Chico State during and after her grad program. She quickly realized her strengths as a teacher lied (lay?) in celebrating students’ birthdays and giving them band-aids, rather than knowing how to properly use “lie” and “lay,” so she decided to pursue her single-subject teaching credential in the fall of 2018. She strives to create an antiracist, decolonized classroom where each student can see themself represented in the curriculum. At home, she enjoys watching Rick and Morty with her partner and their dog, cross-stitching, gardening, and laying (lying?) in her hammock.

Kendall M. Smith is a high school English teacher at Willows High School. She was awarded Teacher of the Year in April 2022. She serves as the Varsity Girls Tennis coach, faculty support for the GEAR UP Program, an advisor for the Interact Club, co-advisor for the Junior Class, and is currently writing the curriculum pathway for Ethnic Studies. She completed her Master’s in Education with an option in Curriculum and Instruction through the Residency in Secondary Education (RiSE) Program at Chico State in 2017. Prior to that, she was an English tutor for Burmese refugees in Chiang Mai while studying abroad in Thailand as a Gilman International Scholarship recipient. The travel bug has since then inspired her adventures throughout Southeast Asia and Australia. During the summer she teaches for the Upward Bound Program at California State University, Chico where she helps students write personal statements for college admission. In her spare time, she enjoys plotting her next adventure, trail running, paddle boarding with her husband, kickboxing with friends, and studying Vedic meditation with some yoga in between.

Jera Verboom teaches English and ELD at Orland High School. She is the GATE advisor and a member of the EL Task Force and SEL Team. She is finishing her third year teaching in the U.S. and has also taught abroad in Tanzania, Egypt, and India. Jera holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a focus in international relations from California State University, Chico, and earned her single subject teaching credential and a master’s degree in education through Chico State’s RiSE program in 2019. She is a proponent of culturally relevant classroom libraries and the purposeful allocation of time for independent reading and journaling. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and animals (dogs and horses), reading, and traveling.