LAHS English teachers Christine Engelbrecht, Karissa Kilgore and Whitney Pomeroy at the NCTE Convention in November in Houston. Courtesy photo By MELANIE McKINLEY
LAPS Foundation Board Member
Twice a year, the LAPS Foundation offers thousands of dollars in grants to Los Alamos teachers. One of the professional development grants last year sent three Los Alamos High School teachers – Whitney Pomeroy, Christine Engelbrecht and Karissa Kilgore – to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) convention Nov. 15-18 in Houston. The theme for the convention was “Raising Student Voice” and the goal was to “celebrate our students’ voices and the impact they make in the world.”
According to Pomeroy, the professional development was exceedingly impactful to her and her students.
“As a result of the convention, I implemented a new writing activity that allowed students to make authentic, personal connections to the philosophical ideas we were covering in their English 12 class in a way that we hadn’t done before,” Pomeroy said. “Students wrote some amazing pieces, synthesizing textual evidence with personal events using powerful rhetorical strategies.”
Another strategy taught at the convention that Pomeroy has implemented is Face to Face (F2F) writing conferences. Since implementing the F2F conferences, she feels that her students’ writing has improved dramatically as they are reflecting more on their own writing. It also gives Pomeroy another avenue to figure out what the students have learned and what she needs to reteach.
Two of the sessions the teachers attended provided information about using supplementary film texts (documentary films) to help students link the curriculum to this medium, which is a common core skill. The teachers noted that two films they viewed were exceptional. One was called Made in LA that addresses three Latina immigrants who work in a sweatshop in Los Angeles (for the store Forever 21), and another titled East of Salinas about illegal immigrants and their roles in American society. The teachers were pleased that both of the powerfully-designed documentaries were directly applicable to much of the English and History curricula and could be integrated into multiple classrooms, as context for novels, as documentary analysis skill development, and as controversial topic discussions. They added that LAHS librarian Shannon Seitz was able to purchase East of Salinas and is looking into purchasing Made in LA.
Pomeroy and Engelbrecht presented the information they gained from the NCTE session to their colleagues in the LAHS English department in January.
“We had a great discussion about how we can overcome the loss of the writing center, which was closed due to funding issues, and integrate the strategies we learned from this conference into our curriculum,” Pomeroy said.
The LAPS Foundation will continue to fund professional development activities so more teachers can have great experiences like this, and so they may continue to impact their students and colleagues in meaningful ways. The Spring, 2019 grant cycle is now open, and grant applications are being accepted from LAPS teachers through March 3. Applications may be found online at lapsfoundation.com/educators/apply-for-a-grant/ .
The Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation is an independent organization that invests in a successful future for all Los Alamos public school students. Since its inception in 2005, the LAPS Foundation has raised more than $1 million for Los Alamos public schools. The Foundation raises money through generous contributions from individuals and organizations who share the Foundation’s core values. To learn more about the LAPS Foundation and how to get involved and/or make a donation, visit https:////www.lapsfoundation.com or call 505.500.6501.