If I only had a $1 for every time I heard somebody implore a student, or adult for that matter, to read a book. Open up a book and read! That is a common message that we are inundated with every time we walk into a school or even turn on the TV.

Inevitably, a celebrity will burst onto the screen espousing the importance of reading as part of a public service announcement designed to get people, especially kids, interested in reading. Hey, if that works, terrific. I would be the last person in the world who would want to minimize the importance of encouraging reading. No, I'm not interested in minimizing the value of reading, I'm here to emphasize the importance of the underappreciated sibling of reading in the 3 R's triumvirate - writing.

If reading is the foundation of a strong education, then writing must be considered the walls and roof - pardon me for the construction references. When we write, after all, we are compelled to do something with what we've learned or attempted to learn. Writing connotes action, movement and activity. Writing leads us into the problem solving phase of the learning process. Reading gives us perspective, food for thought if you will. Writing makes us do something about it. Writing, as it turns out, should be getting much more attention.

One place that writing is getting the attention it deserves is at a program called the Seven Valleys Writing Project (7vwp). The Seven Valleys WritingProject is an extension of the “National Writing Project” begun in 1974 to provide support to some of the finest educators in the nation in their quest to hone their research, writing and overall pedagogical skill set. SUNY Cortland is the site of our regions affiliation with the project, an endeavor jointly funded by the Department of Education and SUNY Cortland.

At Port Byron, we are particularly excited that one of our teachers, English teacher Michael Brewster, was selected to participate in this prestigious program. Participants work full days throughout the month of July during the “Summer Institute,” as they immerse themselves in developing and sharing teaching methods, carry out research linked to teaching and learning, and of course, practicing the art and science of writing. The goal is to not only become more well rounded and accomplished writers in their capacity as professional educators, but to become proficient at teaching others to be competent writers and thinkers.

I was recently afforded an opportunity to sit in on a session of the Seven Valleys Writing Program Institute facilitated by Program Director David Franke and co-director Brian Fay. It was a terrific experience for several reasons. First and foremost, I quickly discovered that this was a group built around two primary attributes - action and collegiality. Action in the sense that the lively and frequent discussions were balanced with a substantial amount of practical application.

In other words, they practiced what they preached. They wrote and shared their writing with colleagues. They gave feedback. They worked on developing large-scale, ongoing projects and interacted with guest speakers.

Most importantly, they worked on creating avenues through which students could benefit from their heightened awareness of the learning potential that resides in the writing process.

I was impressed that often the conversation about writing really became an exercise in examining ways of thinking and communicating - using writing as a process to put a tangible stamp on our thoughts and at times to create a vehicle to challenge conventional thinking, to promulgate a collective culture of learning and scholarship.

Perhaps Brewster explained it best when he described the impact the program has had on him as an educator.

“In terms of 7vwp, one of the great results of this summer is that we've learned that in taking time to write so many different ways about things we want to learn really invites us to spend more time thinking,” he said. “This then leads to the question that is always asked of educators - how do you teach students to think? One answer is that through writing, we are able to express thoughts, experiment in ways to arrive at meaning. With students, too often, writing is the end product of thought, whereas we've learned that thinking through writing actually generates new thoughts - hence the idea that writing is a generative activity. Because teachers actually write with students, we all become better at what we do.” Obviously, the program is a success!

Shawn Bissetta is principal of Dana L. West High School in Port Byron.