Press Releases
First Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing Announced by the College Board
01/30/06
NEW YORK—Six teachers have been awarded the first College Board Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing, the College Board announced today. The grants are in recognition of the innovative methods these teachers use to inspire and develop their students' writing skills. The award was named for Bob Costas, the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and author, due to his dedication to the craft of writing and his generous public service work on behalf of the National Commission on Writing. Each teacher will receive a grant of $2,000.
"The honorees are remarkable teachers who are creative and successful in their approach to get young people excited about writing and learning," said Costas. "Their commitment is clearly reflected in the confidence they are building in their students, who are developing lifelong skills of incredible value. I'm honored to be associated with this national program recognizing such noble work."
One grant recipient was selected from each of the College Board's six regions:
Middle States Region: John Cornillon is a teacher of English at Harbor City High School in Baltimore, Maryland, an inner-city school for students who have been expelled from other public high schools. He has been a tireless promoter of creative writing at Harbor City High and has created the student anthology, Voices. The powerful and raw style of Voices has not only motivated students to write, but has also created a new enthusiasm for reading.
Southern Region: Billie J. Smith is chair of the English department at McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A Title I school, McKinley has experienced significant growth since Hurricane Katrina, accommodating hundreds of displaced students as well as teachers. Smith guided her students, to write poetry and make journal entries about the storm and its aftermath. She plans to use the Bob Costas Grant to help her students interview storm survivors, visit and photograph New Orleans, and create an anthology of writing to document what Smith describes as "the loss and renewal, the past and the future of our lives and our region."
New England Region: Nancy Barile is a teacher of English at Revere High School in Revere, Massachusetts, where approximately 18 percent of the students speak English as a second language or have limited English proficiency. Barile has been instrumental in designing both the curriculum for the summer school English program and a Saturday program that helps students develop the writing skills needed to pass the state assessment. She works in and outside the classroom with Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Latino, and Bosnian-English language learners on their writing skills.
Midwestern Region: Jennifer Budenski is a language arts teacher and co-creator of the Artful Writing program at the Hopkins Alternative Program Off-Campus Pavilion in Hopkins, Minnesota. Many of Budenski's students are acquiring basic literacy skills. In collaboration with Teens Rock the Mic, a group of young spoken-word artists, Budenski brings her students to a local museum of contemporary art, where they participate in writing activities that are inspired by their reaction to the artwork. The goal, Budenski says, is to translate literacy skills from visual, to written, to spoken.
Western Region: Callen Taylor is a history teacher at Mission High School in San Francisco, California, and leads the Mission Writing Project. On any given day her students engage in a wide range of writing activities, from preparing for a poetry slam to writing and producing their own plays or composing nonfiction articles. It is all part of what Taylor calls a "multilayered, real-world approach to writing." Seventy percent of Mission's juniors and seniors participate in writing groups. Each school year ends with a three-day writing retreat on California's Monterey Peninsula.
Southwestern Region: Mary Beth Britton is a language arts teacher and National Honor Society sponsor at Pecos High School in Pecos, New Mexico. Two Sunday afternoons a month her students travel to Santa Fe, 60 miles round-trip, to meet with senior citizens and record their life stories. The students conduct interviews, discuss drafts of their work with the seniors, and collaborate on a book of their life stories. Students and seniors perform together at the end of each school year with a reading of the finished product.
Two teachers from the New England Region were recognized as honorable mentions for their work: James Siegel of Massabesic High School in Waterboro, Maine, and Wayne Barr of Tantasqua Regional Senior High School in Fiskdale, Massachusetts.
Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said: "These winners, along with many of the other highly qualified applicants, are doing critical work. To succeed in the classroom and later in life, students need to acquire strong writing skills. We were heartened by the overwhelming response we received in the first year of this program and to learn about so many great efforts being made across the country to inspire students to write well."
The College Board established the National Commission on Writing in 2002 to create more national support for the teaching of writing. Bob Costas, a New York Times best-selling author, has received numerous Emmy Awards, including two for writing, and has been honored as Sportscaster of the Year a record eight times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He has supported the Commission's work by producing a national public service announcement encouraging young people to develop strong writing skills for success in the classroom and the workplace.
Teachers of grades 6–12 from any discipline, in both public and nonpublic schools, are eligible for the Bob Costas Grants, as are writing programs that take place within schools or the community. For more details about the honorees, visit www.collegeboard.com/costasgrants.
For more information, contact the College Board Office of Public Affairs at (212) 713-8052.