The Oregon Writing Project celebrates 30 years of the write stuff

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Nov. 2, 2007) -- Oregon Writing Project (OWP) alumni from across the state will gather with associates and staff of the project at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Valley River Inn's McKenzie Room, 1000 Valley River Way, for an anniversary celebration.

Showcasing 30 years of the OWP, guest speakers will toast and roast the contributions of Nathaniel Teich, the founding director for the project and professor emeritus of English at the University of Oregon.

OWP is part of the University of Oregon's Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE), a research and outreach center of the College of Education at the UO, dedicated to investigating, promoting and sharing information about the use of advanced technology in education.

Oregon's teachers of writing, from elementary through secondary levels, have participated in the OWP's intensive summer workshops for three decades. The project gives teachers the opportunity to improve their own writing, develop new instruction strategies and share new school-wide methods for writing instruction.

"The OWP is the best professional development available to teachers," said Linda Christensen, director of the OWP at Lewis & Clark College's Graduate School of Education and Counseling. "The program models the pedagogy it hopes teachers will take back to their classrooms, and encourages teachers to reflect on their classroom practice and revise their teaching based on their observations."

The OWP at the UO is affiliated with the National Writing Project network. It includes more than 170 projects in 50 states and abroad and is the only federally funded program that focuses on the teaching of writing.

To attend the celebration, please contact Meda Brown at 541-346-2544 or meda@uoregon.edu.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu

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