NWREL NEWS

Flashback

1. Training of Trainers

   Teachers from as far away as Hong Kong and six states spanning the country attended the 6+1 Trait® Writing Assessment for Trainers Institute in Portland, March 6–8, 2006. After participating in the intensive three-day institute, these new trainers can now teach other educators in their communities how to use the internationally popular writing assessment model. Pictured—NWREL trainer Peter Bellamy describes workshop elements.

2. New Frontiers in Youth Mentoring

   Some of the country’s most prominent mentoring experts were featured at a training program for Alaska youth mentoring professionals, held in Anchorage, April 10–12, 2006. The conference showcased effective mentoring practices—especially those in rural locations and with Native youth. NWREL’s National Mentoring Center coordinated the event, which was sponsored by the Alaska Mentoring Demonstration Project. The project is a collaborative initiative between the Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Southeast Alaska; Boys and Girls Clubs; and the National Senior Service Corps of Alaska. Pictured—(from left to right) Patti MacRae, NWREL; Maggie Steele, Seventh Generation Warriors for Peace; Amy Cannata, NWREL; Mark LoMurray, The North Dakota Tribal/Rural Mentoring Project; Craig Bowman, Common Ground Consulting; Nicky Martin, NWREL; Judy Taylor, U.S. Department of Education Mentoring Resource Center; Dr. Susan Weinberger, Mentor Consulting Group.

3. Breaking Ranks

   High school leaders from across the nation gathered at a Breaking Ranks II® workshop in Portland conducted by NWREL’s Recreating Secondary Schools Unit, March 6–8, 2006. The tailored workshop was designed to help high school leaders integrate their schools’ Smaller Learning Community plans with three core areas: collaborative leadership, personalization and curriculum, and instruction and assessment. School teams interested in future Breaking Ranks II workshops or in the new Breaking Ranks in the Middle (BRIM) workshops currently under development by the National Association of Secondary School Principals can contact Katie Whitney Luers at luersk@nwrel.org or Erin McGary-Hamilton at mcgaryhe@nwrel.org. Pictured—Erin McGary-Hamilton helps team members from Miami, Florida, work on their school plan.

4. 4Cast Conference

   NWREL’s Volunteer Leadership Center is leading an innovative pilot project that will identify best practices from AmeriCorps field programs in the Northwest and share them through a variety of electronic learning formats. To kick off the project—called “4Cast” or Collaboration for Capacity-Building Strategies and Tools—AmeriCorps representatives gathered in Portland, March 21–23, 2006, to review existing materials and discuss how to adapt them for a wider audience. 4Cast expects to post the material on a national Web site in early fall.

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