In 2011, still sorting and processing my own doctoral dissertation, I took a job at Fairfield University, where he was a teacher in the first summer institute for teacher leadership and writing instruction. His demonstration that year was on getting outside to write and we bonded over varying trajectories with environmentalism, books, and putting words to the page in support of the world around us.
Fast forward, he also did a dissertation at Columbia's Teacher College, and was a champion for well over five years of Reading Landscapes and Writing Nature workshops with CWP-Fairfield and Weir Farm National Historical Park (shout out to Ranger Kristin Lessard, too).
Yesterday, Rich visited our teacher cohort to do a rambling across campus where he had the educators follow his talk on their cellphones where they were asked to take a moment outdoors to do some writing themselves. He was also wearing the National Writing Project Write Out emblems on his attire, sharing the traditions he's been part of since the beginning.
As I confessed to the attendees, the two of us didn't have a gray hair in our beards when we first met and look at us now! The power of teachers-teaching-teachers and the necessity of practice meeting scholarship. What a treat to see who we were yesterday and where he is today. It simply makes me proud.
At least, for now, another generation of NWP/CWP teachers will go forward with a little more green-appreciation, especially within the humid days of summer. His awe of the natural world is contagious, but his connection to helping young people create an ecological perspective continues to be inspiring. It is an honor to walk around Fairfield University's campus with him, knowing he is also a graduate of the School of Education and Human Development (then, the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions, under the mentorship of Dr. Wendy Kohli).
Love such stories and connection. Now off for Week 1, Day 3 of Engineering Human Togetherness!
