New Teacher Institute
The second new program that the RMWP is beginning to explore is a New Teacher Institute. As its name suggests, the focus of this program will be the support of brand new teachers as they are getting started in the profession. Statistics show that 50% of all new teachers will leave the profession in their first three years. In many cases the reasons for leaving center around lack of support and a sense that they are not respected nor treated as professionals. As “graduates” of the RMWP, you know firsthand how much support and professionalism comes from the project, so it only makes sense to impart those benefits on new teachers.
As with the young writer’s camp, there are many directions this program can go. The current vision is to implement monthly get togethers beginning with the 2006-07 school year for new teachers who choose to participate (in keeping with the beliefs of the National Writing Project participation should be a voluntary choice on the part of the new teacher) followed by a mini summer institute just for new teachers running concurrently with the Invitational Summer Institute.
Certainly we would like to see these new teachers then continue with the RMWP by joining our summer institute the following year. There are so many possibilities for how we can service newcomers to the profession and the planning team is open to your suggestions and your involvement as a member of the team. If you are interested in helping establish this great new RMWP offering or if you know a student teacher or a new teacher to the field who would be interested in joining the new teacher institute, please contact Cheryl Crill at jcrill7982@peakpeak.com or (970) 593-1458.
