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Teacher Consultants / Staff

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Karen Hartman (Director):  Karen has served as Director of the Colorado Writing Project for the past 10 years.  She is a retired high school English teacher, who has been involved with CWP since 1987.  She consults about both reading and writing workshops in Colorado schools, K-12. 
 
Karen is an avid reader of Young Adult Literature, presenting book talks, along with Sheila Kaehny, at several state conferences each year.  She serves on the board of the Colorado Language Arts Society, is a past member of the NCTE Secondary Committee, and a past winner of the NCTE/Slate State Intellectual Freedom Award. 
 
When not working with CWP, Karen loves to spend time with her three children, her five grandchildren, her husband, and friends.  Travel and beach time are a priority in Karen's life.

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Karen Crawford (Co-Director):  "I have been a facilitator for Colorado Writing Project for over 20 years and although I am retired now from teaching high school Language Arts, I remain committed to supporting classroom teachers in the area of Writing Workshop.  I hold a BA and an MA+ in English and Education and continue to learn more each year about writing and the teaching of writing.  I know the power writing brings to all individuals who pick up pen and paper or click the keys of a computer, and I know the sense of community writing creates.  Colorado Writing Project empowers teachers to empower students."

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Jennifer Arzberger (Teacher Consultant):   Jennifer works as an Instructional Coach and Gifted and Talented Facilitator in Littleton Public Schools. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Educational Administration at the University of Denver. She serves as the Executive Board Treasurer for the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented and teaches Psychology of Gifted, Talented and Creative Children, and Teacher as Researcher at the University of Colorado, Denver.  She earned  her M.A. in Teaching Middle Level Mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado and her B. A. in Teaching and Teacher Education at the University of Arizona.

Jennifer enjoys playing, singing, dancing, and doing yoga with her new baby girl, Gigi! She also enjoys surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, Pilates, the arts, writing, reading, and solving mathematical challenges!

   
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Tim Hillmer (Teacher Consultant):  Tim has been a teacher in the Boulder Valley School District for 27 years, where he has taught middle and high school language arts.  He currently serves as an Induction Mentor for first year teachers.  He received his B.A. at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and his M.A. at the University of New Hampshire.  He has taught writing in the University of New Hampshire's Summer Writing Program and at the University of Colorado in the School of Education. In 1997, Tim participated in the first teacher exchange between the Colorado Dept. of Education and the New Zealand Ministry of Education. He taught at Golden Bay High School on the South Island of New Zealand for the academic year.  Tim has published two novels.  The Hookmen (Scribner) won the Colorado Fiction Award and a special fiction prize from the Colorado Council on the Arts.  His second book, Ravenhill (University of New Mexico Press), explores an incident of high school violence through multiple perspectives.

Tim lives with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters in Louisville. He loves the outdoors, especially whitewater rafting, and enjoys spending time on western rivers and hiking in the mountains.
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Sheila Kaehny (Teacher Consultant):  Sheila works as an English teacher at Thornton HS, where she is the Instructional Leader of the English Department, as well as the Newspaper advisor.  She has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) teaching Adolescent Literature and at Regis University, where she has taught English Methods.  She also taught 7th grade Language Arts, Math, and Special Education at Kepner Middle School in Denver.  She earned her Master's degree in Instruction and Curriculum at CU Boulder and her Bachelor's degree in English at Emory University.  She enjoys playing soccer and tennis, spending time in the mountains, on the beach, and in nature, as well as working on her house.  This summer will mark Sheila's 8th year as a teacher consultant with the Colorado Writing Project.
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Shari Vandervelde (Teacher Consultant): "I’ve spent my entire adult life working in public education, beginning with special education students in 1980, and then moving on to 15 years in the  regular classroom, teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders; many of those years involved team-teaching in a multi-age setting.  More recently, I’ve spent time working in staff development, coaching teachers and providing demonstration lessons in classrooms across District 51.  Achieving National Board Certification, and subsequent renewal, was one of my most challenging professional development undertakings. 
 
CWP, and the teaching of writing and writers, has been an integral part of my life since I first took the course from Karen Hartman in 1992, followed by participating in Level II with Stevi Quate.  I can’t imagine a summer without being involved in this “summer camp” experience with a band of dedicated teachers on a learning quest!"
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Stevi Quate (Teacher Consultant):  Stevi Quate sees every day why her Heinemann book Clock Watchers (coauthored with John McDermott) is so urgently needed. She consults in Colorado schools and is a site professor at large urban high schools in Denver, where teachers face unrelenting pressure to boost student performance—and where the ability to catch students’ interest and hold it has proven essential to raising achievement. Stevi has also been a middle and high school teacher, co-director of the Colorado Writing Project, President of the Colorado affiliates of NCTE and IRA, and state literacy coordinator for the Colorado Department of Education.