Get Involved

Listed below are some of the many ways that teachers, teacher consultants, students, parents, and school administrators can get involved with the NVWP. 

George Mason University Students

The NVWP is offering two professional writing internships in the Spring of 2012.  

NVWP Teacher Consultants

Teachers 

  • Subscribe to the NVWP newsletter 
  • Attend a conference. Every March we run the Language and Learning Conference, which features presentations by NVWP Teacher/Consultants and a well-known speaker. Recent speakers have included Jim Burke, Kelly Gallagher, and Peter Elbow.
  • Take English 695. We regularly run courses in Fairfax and once a year or so in Loudoun, Frederick, Fauquier, Prince William and Alexandria City. If you’d like to know about upcoming English 695 courses, contact the project.
  • Ask your principal about scheduling an NVWP staff-development workshop in your school. We can work with you and your principal in meeting the needs of your school’s teachers.
  • Consider becoming an NVWP Teacher/Consultant. All our TCs have gone through the intensive five-week Invitational Summer Institute. We begin accepting applications for the Summer Institute in November and conduct interviews in March and April. Many school districts will pay tuition for their teachers, and participants receive a small stipend and six hours of graduate credits in either English or Education from George Mason University.
  • Encourage your students to attend a Young Writers Workshop or the Student Summer Institute. These programs are for students in grades 5-12 who enjoy writing.

Administrators 

  • Share information about NVWP programs and activities with your teachers. These may include: the Invitational Summer Institute; professional development opportunities like English 695 or English 696 or the Language and Learning Conference; or our Young Writers programs for students, the One-Day Workshops and Student Summer Institute.
  • Create a multi-year professional development partnership with the NVWP.
  • Schedule an NVWP staff development workshop series. We can help you design one that will meet the particular needs of your teachers. Contact us for more information.
  • Consider taking English 695 or the Invitational Summer Institute yourself. Our courses are for administrators as well as for teachers.
  • Encourage your teachers to attend NVWP activities, like the annual Language and Learning Conference. Especially encourage your very best teachers to apply for the Invitational Summer Institute.
  • Nominate your best teachers for the NVWP Summer Institute. NVWP teachers are among the best in Northern Virginia. All have been trained at the five-week Summer Institute. We’re always looking for good teachers to join us.

Parents

  • Subscribe to the “Young Writers” newsletter to receive information by email about our student and parent workshops, or add the Young Writers RSS Feed to your RSS reader.
  • Attend a parent writing workshop, offered the same time as the Young Writers Workshops.
  • Make a financial contribution to the Northern Virginia Writing Project. We’re a non-profit organization.  A donation will help ensure that the project is able to continues to expand its offerings for students and parents. You may contribute online.  Checks can be made out to NVWP and sent to: Northern Virginia Writing Project – 3E4 George Mason University – Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
  • Speak to your child’s principal and your local PTA about the project offering parent/student workshops in your child’s school.  Ask your PTA if they can help offset the cost of the Student Summer Institute for one or more of your school’s deserving students.
  • Ask your child’s principal to support a teacher for the NVWP’s Invitational Summer Institute.
  • Nominate your child’s best teacher for the NVWP Summer Institute. NVWP teachers are among the best in Northern Virginia. All have been trained at the five-week Summer Institute. We’re always looking for good teachers to join us.

Students

  • If you’re a student, attend a one-day Young Writers Workshop or the two-week Student Summer Institute. If you like to write, you’ll have a great time in this community of other student writers.