2012 National Day on Writing a Success!
Friday, October 19, 2012, was a busy day for those of us at ECU, particularly those involved with the Tar River Writing Project and the University Writing Program! Beginning at 8:30 am, school children from area elementary, middle, and high schools poured onto ECU’s campus for a day of writing and fun. By 3:00 pm, we had worked with nearly 600 K-12 students.
Morning sessions provided a rich diversity of writing activities for your writers, ranging from scene writing session led by experienced theatre professor Hector Garza and a Halloween-themed spooky writing session facilitated by Jenn Sisk and Randall Martoccia, to Cynthia Gibb’s popular Graffiti Wall project and two robust Digital Writing Studios: Steph West-Puckett worked with the recently-popular “Hot Cheetos & Takis” video to let writers explore their own favorite foods and create raps for them, while Rob Puckett used Google maps to let writers explore some of their favorite places and share those through tagging a shared map.
Join us for National Day on Writing 2012
(For pictures and videos from our 2012 NDOW Celebration, visit this link: http://www.trwp.org/?p=713)
Established on October 20, 2009 by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the National Day on Writing celebrates composition in all forms – from stories, poems, and letters to text messages, videos, and audio recordings – and demonstrates how writing is a vital part of our everyday lives. Thousands of writers from across the country recognize the National Day on Writing with local events, including write-ins, talks by local authors, and poetry slam celebrations.
Last year, nearly 200 local school children and teachers joined us on campus for the first annual National Day on Writing celebration at ECU. To learn more about last year’s celebration, click here. This year, we’re planning another exciting celebration of writing, and if you’re reading this, we want you to be part of it!
To simplify field trip planning and make the event accessible to as many local K-college students as possible, we have scheduled our on-campus events for Friday, October 19. However, we plan to host community activities that will be open to the public on Saturday, October 20 as well.
ECU Campus Celebrations – October 19, 2012
We will host two celebration blocks, morning and afternoon, that include two activity sessions each. Blocks will be open to registered K-College groups. Groups attending both blocks will be invited to eat on campus, and dining facilities will be available. While celebration activities will be free, attendees will have the option to pre-pay for a meal or bring their own.
Attendees will participate in fun and creative activities that include digital storytelling, social writing, meeting published authors, and creative workshops.
Educators will be able to register their classes beginning in August. If you want to bring a group to campus, you may apply now for registration. Information gathered from the applications will help us tailor our planning efforts better for potential attendees. We will notify applicants of acceptance status within one week of application, and we will accept applications through September 21 or until we reach our maximum capacity.
We will also present the second annual Tar River Writing Project Gallery, in which we will display original works by ECU students, TRWP young writers, TRWP members, and members of Eastern North Carolina communities.
Community Celebrations – October 20, 2012
We are currently seeking partnerships with local community centers and businesses to plan and host community events. If you, your business, or your organization are interested in partnering with us for a community event, please send us a message through our Contact Us page with the subject line “NDOW Community Celebration Partnership Recommendation”.
Making NDOW 2012 Possible
We’d like to thank the following folks for helping us make our celebration awesome!
ECU’s NDOW Advisory Committee
NDOW 2011 Volunteers and Attendees
University Writing Program at ECU
Joyner Library
English Department at ECU
If you are interested in donating funds or supplies OR if you have an idea for an event, please send us a message through our Contact Us page. Include NDOW 2012 as part of your subject line.