South Texas Writing Project:
sailing on a literary journey through voice

By Sylvana Longoria

"Who we are is who we were," said United High School English teacher Karen Paulson, who modeled her demonstration lesson entitled The Family Essay: A Journey of Self-Discovery for 2002 South Texas Writing Project (STWP) Fellow writers. Paulson integrated the theme of self-discovery through the examination of family history, an idea adapted from Steven Spielberg's Amistad. Students in Paulson's class explore conflicts in the American Dream and develop their own voice by sifting through family photographs and interviewing elders to recreate their past.
After viewing a provocative scene in the film, project fellows drafted details of the scene as a screenplay only to arrive at yet another epiphany. Such epiphanies occurred often during the four-week course: Screenwriters write scenes that evoke visceral images.
"This is what in-services should emulate -- teachers generating useful, powerful lessons for meaningful classroom experiences," said San Antonio Communication Arts High School creative writing teacher and second year Fellow Delia Medina.
Meaningful self-discoveries through writing abounded at this summer institute for writers which is hosted by Texas A&M International University. Exploring the importance of voice and learning the craft of writing promoted a nurturing writing environment in which teachers drew a breath of life into their own search for voice, an opportunity not always afforded to teachers throughout the school year.
"Teachers should also be writers," said STWP director and Laredo Community College professor Lucinda Farrokh. "We shouldn't instruct students to do what we're not willing to do ourselves."
Each fellow chose a theme to create three original pieces in varied genres and presented them to their peer response groups each week.
Writing and presenting original pieces initially frightens the expectations of aspiring writers; but criticism, positive and constructive, exposes fellows to diverse crafting stages, styles, and voices. Chiseling away at a fellow's piece becomes a welcome procedure. Because final products are rare, works-in-progress encouraged, in fact, enforced, the faint of heart shouldn't fear; the STWP will make a writer out of you.
During the course of the summer institute, each fellow taught other community, district, and south Texas region teachers one of their most effective lessons. Participants engaged in an academic discussion about a lesson's benefits, improvements, and success.
"Every educator attending the summer institute will surely be enthused about their profession," said fellow Sandra Gutierrez. Instilling writing as a craft, directors Lucinda Farrokh and Dora Flores fostered fellows' use of their own creative vein.
"Participants bring in a variety of unique talents," said Lily Castillo of the VMT Fine Arts School.
To create a compelling piece, writers learned to engage both their audience and their own interest. Fellow writers' environment, background, and upbringing play an integral role and imbue the STWP with its momentum, a chemistry diversified and amplified each year with its applicants, during which teachers disseminate the impact of their learning throughout community schools and the south Texas area.
A strict regimen of food-for-thought snacks, weekly potluck dinners, and powerful life lessons build fellowship and community among participants. The STWP allows teachers, kindergarten through university, to showcase their work, labor of love, and the discovery that who we are is who we were.
For more information about the National Writing Project and the South Texas Writing Project, contact site director Lucinda Farrokh at Laredo Community College (956) 721-5491, fax (956) 764-5927, or e-mail: lfarrokh@laredo.edu.