MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Lehua Writing Project (LWP) is now accepting applications for the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI).

LWP is UH Hilo’s local site for the National Writing Project (NWP), which focuses the knowledge, expertise, and leadership of our nation’s educators on sustained efforts to improve writing and learning for all learners.

The only federally-funded program focusing on writing instruction, NWP is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, foundations, corporations, universities, and K-12 schools.

ISI is a four-week intensive program which will be held 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. June 14 to July 8 at the North Hawaii Education and Research Center in Honokaa.

The program will provide professional development in writing and the teaching of writing using a teachers-teaching-teachers model. Participants will receive three graduate credits in Education upon completion.

Full tuition scholarships are available for teachers who are interviewed and accepted for the ISI, and participants will receive stipends for books and travel. However, each participant will pay a small, administrative fee to the University.

Two awareness sessions are planned for interested participants:

* 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 13, UCB 312 on the UH-Hilo campus

* 9 a.m.-noon, Friday, March 5 at Kealakehe Elementary School Library in Kailua-Kona.

Those planning to attend either session are asked to RSVP to Dr. Jeannine Hirtle, hirtle@hawaii.edu or Cathy Ikeda, cathyi@hawaii.edu.

The deadline to apply for the Summer Invitational Institute is March 15. Applicants must be enrolled at UH-Hilo by the time the interviews are scheduled and notifications are sent out on or before April 1, 2010.

To apply online, visit http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/depts/summer/index.php or e-mail hirtle@hawaii.edu for more information.