It's been more than 15 years that the National Writing Project invited me and engaged me in a national conversation that's had an immeasurable impact on my quality of life as a teacher of writing and those I teach.

It's almost a cliche to say that the NWP has saved me from burn-out from frustration with non-evolution of my practice and professional isolation.

Myles Horton, in his book with Paulo Freire *We Make the Road by Walking,* says in a recorded conversation that his education was saved by friends of his parents who put him up at their house and supported him in other ways in his endeavor to attend a school in the early 1900s.  These friends helped him "meet" books that fed his intellectual spirit and opened the world to him.

NWP opened the world of teaching writing for me. Through NWP, teachers have shared countless ideas and beliefs about writing, filling my mind and my shelves with invaluable tools and new approaches. They've taught me to view teaching in a broader, richer community context that has enabled me to see new ways to reach disaffected students. As well, NWP has invited me to teach others about my own lessons of my classroom and writing experience and helped me see myself as an expert teacher who can help other teachers take pride in the craft of teaching writing.

I have honored my NWP experience by becoming a teacher who has worked with thousands of students and has made space for them to grow as expert writers, finding their voices, expanding their range with words through genres and ideas. So many have surprised themselves by claiming they can now consider writing as a career, that they enjoy English, that they want to teach, that they passed. Each in their own way, joy was the spark they took with them.

Writing, as challenging as ever, became a tool, not to bludgeon their heads and their hearts against, but a space in which they could dwell peacefully, struggle mightily, and grow something in collaboration they never thought possible from the nub of a pen, a computer keyboard, mixing media.

If this country wants strong writers, the NWP and its networks that constantly buzz with the energies of professionals working and sharing with each other and broadening its resources is the answer. The road is paved and it will continue to be made with teachers teaching teachers writing with students  because NWP teachers walk it every day.

Phip Ross
Nebraska Writing Project
Lincoln, NE