Spotlight on Excellence
On March 2, 2005 the
Spring 2005 Southwest Mississippi Writing Conference
took place on the main campus of Alcorn State University. Over
80 of the region’s leading educators and policy makers from 12
public school districts throughout southwest Mississippi
participated in the conference.
The conference
was opened with Dr. Clinton Bristow’s welcoming speech. Keynote
speakers included Dr. Pamela B. Childers, a nationally renowned
scholar on writing, and Mississippi State Senator Mike Chaney.
Instructions
were provided by Dr. Robert M. Butler, Chairman of the
Department of English and Associate Vice President for Academic
Affairs and the sessions were moderated by Dr. Josephine
Posey, Dean of the School of Education and Psychology and
instructions.
During lunch
break the participants were entertained by Ladies in Order,
the choir of the Department of Fine Arts directed by Mrs. Loneka
Wilkinson-Battiste.
After lunch
break the conference participants divided into 7 groups and
shared insights and formulated instructional strategies in
breakout session workshops:
Workshop
1- Writing Centers (Dr. Pamela Childers)
Workshop 2 -
Portfolios and Portfolio Assessment (Ms. Kathi Griffin)
Workshop 3
- Writing Through Service Learning (Dr. Phyllis Thompson)
Workshop 4
- Journal Writing (Mrs. Frances Doss)
Workshop 5
- Reading and Writing / Writing as Reading (Dr. Murray Shugars)
Workshop 6
- Peer Review Workshops (Dr. Cindy Scurria)
Workshop 7
- Writing & Preparation for State Assessment (Mrs. Shirley
Cruel)
Overall the
conference was a great success thanks to the effort of all the
participants, the entire school, and the leading role of the
Department of English, the School of Education and Psychology,
the university’s Writing Center, and the Office of University
Relations.
Faculty,
staff, and students of the School of Education and Psychology,
in conjunction with Department of English and Writing Center
colleagues will develop a report based on recommendations made
during the Spring 2005 conference.
Please find
below the photographs taken at the conference.
