Are you a writing teacher, reading teacher, or literacy coach? Do you need more funding to purchase books for your school’s program?

At Wordstock, we believe that writing has the power to affect positive change in people’s lives, and that teachers and the resources they bring to the classroom are the means by which students experience that change.

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2-6, 2011), we are giving away five, $1,000 Powell’s Books Gift Cards for teachers to use towards your classroom library!

But the giving doesn’t stop there…just for completing the contest survey, you will get a complimentary pass to the Wordstock Book Fair in October and a discount on Wordstock writing programs for teachers!

Sound good? Here’s what to do:

1) Fill out the Wordstock Teacher Appreciation Week Contest Survey by MONDAY APRIL 25

2) Forward the Entry Form to friends (please help us spread the word!)

3) Visit our website for more information about Wordstock Education Programs

4) Relax! Wordstock will contact winners by email on Friday, April 29

Thank you for your participation! We look forward to being in touch with you soon!

Here’s the latest from our friends at ReadRollShow: an affecting conversation with writers Paul West and Diane Ackerman. Before West suffered a stroke, he’d authored more than 40 books, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction; after, he was unable to speak, write, or decipher the symbols of language at all. This man who’d spent a lifetime with words now didn’t recognize any of them, and had to learn language all over again. That journey is the subject of Ackerman’s new book, An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain. Very, very powerful.

Also: Notice the RRS banner to your right? That’s here to stay. We’ll be regularly updating you on the new material at RRS, but you can click through to their site from here at any time.