During the Spring of 1994, a group of educators in Salem, the capitol city of Oregon, worked together to formulate a proposal for funding as a new site in the network of 160 locations in 45 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico which form the National Writing Project. Members of this group came from many different institutions:

The excitement of this diverse group further convinced us of the value of the Writing Project principles: teachers are excellent teachers of teachers; collaboration across teaching levels and subjects is highly productive; and teachers of writing should also be writers.

The application of OWP @ Willamette to become a Writing Project site was successful in 1995. Much of that success was due to the help of friends and supporters such as Glen Fielding of Marion Educational Service District; Richard Kromminga of Silverton Union High School; and John Dracon and Jack Stoops of Central School District.

Jim Gray and Richard Sterling gave invaluable guidance and advice throughout the process. And of course, the support of the Oregon state network of Writing Project sites, and particularly of Nat Teich from University of Oregon and Kim Stafford of Lewis and Clark, was and remains a mainstay of our development. The Oregon network began at University of Oregon in 1977 as one of the first Project sites outside of California. There are now five sites distributed around the state.

OWP @ Willamette is funded by the National Writing Project, the William and Kay Long Endowment for the Willamette Writing Program, Willamette University, and support from Western Oregon University and participating schools. Based on the Bay Area Writing Project model, the program offers professional growth opportunities for teachers kindergarten through college in all content areas who wish to develop their writing skills and improve effectiveness in teaching writing. Our goals include:

• Improving student writing
• Increasing the use of writing to learn
• Improving university and school collaboration
• Increasing the professional power of classroom teachers as staff developers and classroom researchers

Please join the Oregon Writing Project in supporting the growth of writers, students, and teachers.