Western Massachusetts Writing Project is now Housed at Westfield State!
Westfield State University welcomes the Western Massachusetts Writing Project to campus. Previously housed at UMass Amherst, WMWP is dedicated to providing a space for teachers to teach other teachers as we work towards improving student achievement and success. WMWP offers a variety of programs and professional development opportunities, including workshops, graduate courses, summer institutes, annual conferences, and youth writing programs.
The mission of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, a local site of the National Writing Project, is to create a professional community where teachers and other educators feel welcomed to come together to deepen individual and collective experiences as writers and our understanding of teaching and learning in order to challenge and transform our practice. Our aim is to improve learning in our schools – urban, rural and suburban.
Professional development provided by the Western Massachusetts Writing Project values reflection and inquiry and is built on teacher knowledge, expertise, and leadership.
Central to our mission is the development of programs and opportunities that are accessible and relevant to teachers, students, and their families from diverse backgrounds, paying attention to issues of race, gender, language, class and culture and how these are linked to teaching and learning.
It was wonderful to hear from so many of those whose experiences have shaped the WMWP historically and enabled it to reach such a wide swath of teachers and students. It reinforced for me that at WSU, we want to continue to support empowering teachers to be strong writers and leaders so that they can reach more students and use the best practices in teaching writing in their own K-16 classrooms.
Jennifer DiGrazia, English Professor, Co-Director of WMWP
Take a moment to explore the resources provided below to discover more about WMWP and the opportunities it provides.
Rural Ink: Empowering Student Civic Journalism
This program is aimed at Western Massachusetts educators working in rural school districts and is designed to provide professional development and resources for authentic publishing opportunities and support for high school students. ‘Rural Ink’ will center on civics and journalism activities, with students publishing original work at a CIPA- and COPPA-compliant National Writing Project website, possibly in conjunction with local newspapers, on topics impacting local communities. Participant educators will take part in a 10-hour professional development initiative and agree to implement curriculum in the fall, with student work being published. The program will be completed by December.
Facilitators Leslie Skantz-Hodgson and Kevin Hodgson spent years as newspaper journalists before becoming educators, and both are long-time teacher-consultants with WMWP.
This program is supported by the National Writing Project and a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Enhance K-12 writing instruction with our affordable Graduate Certificate. Ideal for ELA & Education teachers. Earn credits towards a master’s degree at WSU.
Discover our graduate degrees and connect with the Center for Teacher Education and Research.
