Yes! We Did It!

The email came yesterday in the early afternoon. I was at my computer catching up on a few things when I saw the alert: ILA Distinguished Award Notification.

Yes! We did it!

I’ve been part of the Keystone State Reading Association’s Board of Directors for a few years now. We’ve participated in the International Literacy Association’s Council Achievement awards for the past two years. One winner is selected in each of three categories – teacher empowerment, community engagement, and public awareness – with an additional overall winner selected on excellence in all three categories. KSRA has won in the individual categories, but this year we had our sights set on the overall Distinguished Council Award, the most prestigious of them all. The application involves submitting a narrative and a video, and this year the job of writing the narrative fell to me.

I can do that! No problem!

At least that’s what I thought until I sat down to write. In three hundred words or less I had to find a way to showcase KSRA’s accomplishments in the three categories and how these accomplishments work to help fight illiteracy in our state. And did I mention that documented measures of success and any press coverage should be part of that narrative? A tall order indeed, but I wrote, revised, shared, revised…and came up with something that worked. I think I can honestly say that writing my slices for TWT was instrumental in the success of that narrative.  Three to four hundred words is what I aim for in my slices (less if I’m writing poetry). Keeping that number in mind helps me narrow my focus, decide on my point, and write concisely. So thank you, TWT community, for giving me a forum and helping me become a better writer.

Yes! We did it!

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