Emily Patterson '05 8th Grade English Teacher, John Adams Middle School, Charleston, WV

When I finished my English degree, I couldn't wait for more; I completed a MA in Secondary Education at WVU in 2007 and began to work on an English MA through Middlebury's Bread Loaf School of English which I completed in 2010. As a public school teacher, I select what literature students experience and what types of writing they study and produce, and I frequently find myself thinking of the way my college courses were organized when I plan these experiences. Last summer I was a fellow with the Central West Virginia Writing Project and through this experience I've had the opportunity to give teaching demonstrations and lead workshops for other teachers; this outlet also enables me to practice my own writing.