Terlingua has been chosen as one of the participant schools for the Planting Poet Trees initiative.Dr. Carmen Tafolla will be at the school on February 4 at 9 am. Terlingua is very honored to be one of the few schools chosen in the state.
PLANTING POET TREES, Sowing Seeds of Inspiration in Texas Public Schools is an exciting learning opportunity for your students to work with an outstanding Texas writer. On May 7, 2015, the Texas State Legislature invested Dr. Carmen Tafolla as the Poet Laureate of the State of Texas for the next year. Of Mexican heritage, Dr. Tafolla is the first Spanish-surnamed person to hold this important position.
This is one of the few times in Texas history that the State Poet Laureate is also an educator and a published award-winning author of both children’s and adult works. She has several books of poetry and has conducted writing and literary workshops for a wide range of audiences, Pre-K through graduate school, as well as the general public.
In addition, Dr. Tafolla is fluent in English, Spanish and the regional dialect of Spanish historically spoken in Texas. Her goal as the State Poet Laureate is to make poetry and writing workshops accessible to all Texans, including those audiences who have had the least opportunity to enjoy poetry in the state’s schools and colleges.
Dr. Tafolla teaches at The University of Texas at San Antonio. UTSA’s College of Education and Human Development has awarded her a year’s leave to work with 20 Texas public schools that serve students from low-income families.
The schools selected will participate in a creative writing project during 2015-16. The goal is to engage students in writing, reading and aspiring for academic excellence. Wings Press in San Antonio will publish the best of the student works in a statewide anthology of poetry edited by Dr. Tafolla. An Advisory Committee will assist Dr. Tafolla in selecting the 20 schools to participate in the Planting Poet Trees program.
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