St. Mark's Teachers' Institute

Middle and upper school teachers from public schools all over Texas were on campus March 5th to participate in the bi-annual St. Mark's Teachers' Institute. Founded by Liz Trice, Master Teacher Emeritus, the Institute is a living laboratory where teachers from different backgrounds and schools share their knowledge and their experiences teaching English. The main goal of the program is to give participants practical tools they can use on their own campuses.

Established in 1991, more than 1,000 public school teachers have participated in this program since its inception. St. Mark’s hosts the Institute which is funded by the combination of a nominal fee from each participant and generous grants from private donors. The M.R. & Evelyn Hudson Foundation provided funding to underwrite both the 2008 program and this year's program.

Teachers who attend the Institute have the opportunity to participate in workshops on techniques for teaching English and to visit the classrooms of St. Mark's English and humanities teachers to observe our instructors and boys in action. The teachers receive a notebook with the handouts from the workshop sessions to take back to their schools. The keynote speaker this year was Jeffrey Davis, the Robert E. Dennard Visiting Scholar from Accord, New York, who spoke on "Creating Awe and Wonder in the English Classroom." Mr. Davis is a poet, essayist, writing teacher, and writing coach who has published several books of poems, many essays, and a book about writing "from the center to the page" using yoga techniques to free the creative mind. He spent a week on campus leading classes and discussions with students and faculty.

In addition, Jacqui Rains and Norma Wilkerson, teachers at Fort Worth Country Day School, were visiting presenters. Both are long-time presenters for The College Board and the AP Program.

Several of our own faculty members also led workshops: Martin Stegemoeller presented on teaching Hamlet, Marta Napiorkowska presented on teaching Brave New World, Bob Rozelle presented his short story/novel Middle School project, Lisa Brandenburg presented on teaching poetry to middle school boys and on teaching Shakespeare, and Lynne Weber presented on "The Special Needs of Boys in Language Arts."

Lynne Weber, Trustee Master Teaching Chair Humanities/English, directed this year's Institute, which included 86 middle school and high school English teachers.