Four Cups of Coffee

By Emoke Bebiak and Christine Estevez

ITHACA, NY—The Seven Valleys Writing Project (SVWP) sponsored its first annual “Four Cups of Coffee,” a walking and writing workshop for aspiring writers, on Oct. 24, 2009. Participants met at the Aurora Pavilion in downtown Ithaca. Maps of the city’s local coffeehouses were distributed and the writers set off with two goals in mind: caffeine and penning something brilliant.

The writers only made their way to two out of the four suggested coffee bars, The Ithaca Coffee Company and Collegetown Bagels. After spending the morning talking, eating, drinking and writing furiously, the group reconvened at the Aurora Pavilion for an open mic, a chance to share any new material that the walk had inspired. “Four Cups of Coffee” was the first of many planned workshops around the region sponsored by SVWP.
SVWP is SUNY Cortland’s local branch of the National Writing Project (NWP). NWP is a nationwide network of educators working together to improve the teaching of writing in our schools. Through a series of development programs, teachers in all subject areas and at all levels learn new strategies to help their students become more accomplished writers. Workshop organizer, Eric Pritz, a social studies teacher at Lansing Middle School said, “We’re just looking for ways of promoting writing for teachers. Part of the whole thrust is to get teachers to be better writers so that they can be better teachers of writing.”

“Four Cups of Coffee” was intended to inspire thoughts of creativity and new approaches to writing among the area’s schoolteachers. When teachers are passionate about writing they can speak and teach from a position of personal knowledge and experience. Todd Howell, Ithaca Alumni ’93, is now an English teacher at Lansing Middle School. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer since I was a kid,” Howell said, “I’ve always wanted to do it but never seem to find the time to do it for myself. That’s why the writing group is good for me.” Thanks to the writing project, Howell finally got the chance to start a memoir he’s been meaning to write.