Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing
Now Accepting Applications for 2010
The application deadline for the 2010 Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing is November 20, 2009. Please see below for full details.
Grants of $3,000 awarded to teachers who inspire students to write
Each year the College Board recognizes exceptional teachers of grades 6 through 12 for the innovative methods they use to develop their students' writing skills. Grants of $3,000 each will be awarded to teachers who are doing an inspiring job of teaching their students to write and who will benefit most from a grant to enhance a successful project.
The award was named for Bob Costas, the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and author, for his dedication to the craft of writing and his generous public service work on behalf of the National Commission on Writing.
The 2010 Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing
Please click on application for guidelines and instructions.
Main application (.pdf/282K)
Student testimonial (.pdf/233K)
Professional reference (.pdf/204K)
Recipients of the 2009 Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing
Middle States Region
Shannon Handley and Joanne Dineen of Bay Shore High School in Bay Shore, N.Y., coordinate the Ethnic Pen, an annual conference on ethnic writing that has earned local and national recognition for its success in motivating students to find and express their unique voices through writing.
Western Region
Teri Klass of Marshall High School in Los Angeles has incorporated special education students into her Humanitas Global Studies small learning community, bringing a population that has often been excluded into a program of rigor. Her students’ assignments include debates, multimedia projects and extracurricular trips.
Southwest Region
Andrea Perrino of Rio Rancho Mid-High School and Beth Cramer of Mountain View Middle School in Rio Rancho, N.M., coordinate a Web-based writer’s showcase to publish students’ work and encourage them to submit essays or poetry.
Midwest Region
Colleen Ruggieri of Canfield High School in Canfield, Ohio, believes in having her students "write for real." She incorporated a local experimental farm in her teaching. Her students studied the writings of the American Transcendentalists and she took them on a field trip to the farm to research environmental and agricultural issues.
New England Region
Pascalia Mattioli of South High Community School in Worcester, Mass., has emphasized the arts as her students read and write in her language arts classroom. Using art projects to complement the reading and writing curriculum has helped many students for whom English is not their first language.
Southern Region
Brent Wiley of Brandon Alternative School in Seffner, Fla., challenged his students to take up their pens and create the first student newspaper published in Hillsborough County. Wiley’s students accepted his challenge and published their first issue — complete with fashion tips, reviews of hip-hop and pop music releases, and editorials about school conditions.
Recipients of the 2008 Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing
Middle States Region
Beth Breau and Richard Lorenzo of St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, N.J., teach a 10th-grade course called Newark Studies, in which students investigate topics important to their city, including AIDS, race relations, downtown development and Newark's 1967 civil disorders.
Western Region
Art Rzasa of Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Mont., founded "Classroom Without Walls," where students engage in experiential learning. After embarking on educational backpacking trips, students then research, write, and produce short documentaries for classroom use.
Southwest Region
Nancy Sladky teaches literature and writing at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, an inner-city public school in Augusta, Ga. Here she sponsors an active poetry and fiction writing club, publishes a literary journal, holds events to showcase student writing and has collaborated with the library to establish a creative writing blog for students.
Midwest Region
Katherine Plager of Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill., teaches her students how to write formal laboratory reports following the scientific method. This rubric and step-by-step procedure for constructing laboratory reports has made writing accessible to students previously uncomfortable with writing.
New England Region
B. Lynn Frazier, a reading and language arts consultant at Windham High School in Willimantic, Conn., began a poetry unit focusing on memoirs a few years ago. Her group of students, the self-named Young Poets, responded with passion and skill, performing their work in a local café and publishing it online. Frazier was also chosen as one of 150 Freedom Writer Teachers by Erin Gruwell.
Southern Region
Mary Grace Bagaoisan and Roseo T. Caburian Jr. of Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, Texas, teaches English as a second language and helps build writing skills and academic confidence among students whose limited English proficiency threaten to keep them from staying in school or considering college.
Best Practices
Learn best practices from past recipients.