The Sun Belt Writing Project is part of the National Writing Project, which is a professional development organization for teachers that works to improve student achievement by improving the teaching and learning of writing in the nation's schools across all grades from kindergarten to college. There are 167 local sites across the country and the Sun Belt Writing Project is one such site in Alabama. All of the national writing sites follow a teachers-teaching-teachers model.

The Sun Belt Writing Project is under the direction of Dr. Alyson White, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Teaching, with the help of co-directors, Cathy Buckhalt Dragoin, a teacher and English chair at Opelika Middle School, and John Pennisi, a teacher at Auburn High School and Southern Union Community College.

Sun Belt was founded in 1981 by Dr. Richard Graves, who is now a professor emeritus of English Language Arts education. For several years, Sun Belt was the only national writing project site in Alabama, but Dr. Graves encouraged and facilitated the establishment of other sites in this state. As a result of that, Sun Belt alumni are active in the Alabama State Department of Education and a number of state universities and hold leadership positions in many state school systems, adding more prestige to becoming a Sun Belt fellow.

Sun Belt fellows are all teachers who have been participants in the Summer Invitational Institute, which is the project's keystone program. The Summer Invitational Institute is a five-week intensive institute that takes place at Auburn University every summer. For the institute, widely-respected teachers from across all disciplines and grade levels are invited and then funded to come take part in the institute with the understanding that they will assume a local leadership role that fits their interests upon completion and return to their communities.

During the institute, teachers work and write together daily and meet in writing response groups twice a week. They also publish an anthology of personal and professional writing. Each teacher creates a 90-minute demonstration of a teaching method that has been effective in his or her classroom and presents that to the institute. Institute participants also read professional books, some in common and some of the fellows' choice, and then discuss those readings.

During the school year, Sun Belt fellows take on professional development leadership roles within their school systems. Right now, Sun Belt's most developed partnership school is Opelika Middle School. There are professional literature circles facilitated by Buckhalt Dragoin, Julie Worth and Jordon Barkley, who are both Sun Belt fellows.

Other examples of professional development include Pennisi leading a problem-based learning initiative for Auburn City Schools that is for middle and high school English teachers. In Lee County, fellow Lori Hardee, who teaches at Sanford Middle School, has provided professional development for her colleagues and for teachers at Lanett City Schools.

There is also an annual fall outreach event known as the Fall Harvest Table where fellows enjoy teaching demonstrations about writing followed by a potluck lunch and discussion of the morning's writings.

In the spring, Sun Belt works with the Plans Reading Council to sponsor a Young Authors Conference for young writers. Sun Belt fellows come and lead break-out sessions for the writers. This year the conference is being lead by a new fellow, De Shealey, a teacher at Beulah Elementary.

In the summer there is a week-long acting and writing workshop offered to upper elementary and middle school students. The workshop is lead by a Sun Belt fellow. This summer it will be lead by Susie Jenson, a teacher at Auburn Junior High School.

On a month-to-month basis, Sun Belt fellows have a monthly writing group where they met, share and work on their writing. Those sessions have generated several published articles, Whyte said. An example of that is an article written by Russell County Middle School and Southern Union teacher Art Belliveau recently had an article published by the National Council for Teachers of English in their series called "Notes Plus." There are also several fellows with works of creative non-fiction, novels and professional writings in progress.

Then there is the annual retreat for Sun Belt alumni. This year the location is Lake Martin and for them it is a weekend full of relaxing and writing and reading.

A new endeavor undertaken by Sun Belt is being lead by Belliveau, who serves on the Advisory Council. He is acting as the technology liaison and has created a list server where Sun Belt fellows can keep in touch and ask for advice as questions arise.

Whyte said the statistics for 2001-2002 show that more than 150 teachers participated in Sun Belt professional development programs and about 400 hours of professional development were provided. It's funded through federal grant monies that are matched by state funding and Auburn University. The College of Education and the Department of Curriculum & Teaching have also been very invested in Sun Belt, which Whyte said the group appreciates tremendously.

"We basically operate on the assumption that there are a lot of good writing teachers out there and we can find them and bring them together so that they can inform one another's practice," Whyte said. "It's also a way of integrating pre-service and post-certification programs because part of my role is working with Sun Belt and part is working with pre-service English teachers on their teaching and writing so the undergraduate program is being informed by the repertories and the insights of the Sun Belt fellows that I'm in constant conversation with."