Just now, a student came into my room between classes. “Carol” came to give me senior pictures and ask me to sign her memory book. But more importantly, she came to tell me that she loves to write because of me. Carol was a student of mine in the fall of her sophomore year. I was fresh off an amazing month at the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project; a newly minted Teaching Consultant. My enthusiasm for writing, and for teaching writing, had been reawakened, and we wrote with joy that semester. “Don’t look back,” I told them. “Just keep writing. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation.  Just barf your brains out onto the page.” Ideas were the most important thing.

Carol, who grew up in a volatile family situation where academic achievement was not a priority, told me that it was her experience in my class that made the writing portion of the ACT easy for her. She said that she looked around the room, and saw that many students were still working on the first part when she was well into the second part. I don’t know what her score will be. Her conventions needed work when she was in my class. But the confidence with which she approached the writing section assures me that her ideas and support were strong. More importantly, she has a love of writing that will be with her throughout her life.

Thank you, National Writing Project, for transforming me into a teacher who inspires a love of writing.

Ellen Steigman