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Writer
Ability to work with all ages.

Jim has been writing and conducting residencies across the West for almost 30 years. His most recent residencies have been multi-disciplinary approaches to subjects using fly tying, photography, performance art and more.

"As for my own art, I prefer the pragmatic over the merely decorative. If my poems are any good they will inevitably take on some coloration from their reader's temperaments, states of mind, and cultural backgrounds. For all art is collaborative, a meeting of minds and spirits."


Recommendations: Robert M. Donaldson, Jenifer Jr. High School, Lewiston, ID 83501, 208.748.3300 Joy Beckman, Jenifer Jr. High School, Lewiston, ID 83501, 208.748.3300

Writer
Ability to work with third grade through advanced students, youth at risk, incarcerated youth.

For me, teaching is above all about setting the spark that remains with the students long after the class or residency is over. This is especially a challenge with students who do not consider themselves "writers" or "artists." Their resistance comes in many forms and one of the things I enjoy most is attempting to diffuse it. My primary goal is always to help students find their voices through writing. I am dedicated to the belief that youth can benefit from all forms of artistic expression because it is an introspective, self--validating process that shows them the joys of creating.

It is essential to be a dynamic presence that stimulates and animates the students' imaginations by choosing activities and texts that speak to them. A second ingredient is creating a safe environment that fosters a sense of camaraderie and complicity in the group so that students feel comfortable enough to express themselves freely and honestly.

Recommendations:
Paul Shaffer, Executive Director, Log Cabin Literary Center, Boise, ID, 208.331.8000 Gary Judd, Teacher, Dept. of Juvenile Corrections, 3000 11th Ave., Nampa, ID 83687, 208.465.8420 Steve Jett, Director, Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center, 222 North 12th Ave, Caldwell, ID 83605, 208.454.7240

Writer
Ability to work with all ages, juvenile offenders, families at risk.

When I'm writing, I strive for a full-body sensory experience, like play. With students, I want to create an atmosphere of trust, spontaneity, and acceptance, in which everyone is fully engaged and has ready access to their own images and inner worlds which they can freely convey.

Telling their own stories aloud and then performing them improvisationally with classmates can have a huge impact, especially on young children or people of any age who do not yet consider themselves writers. Because young children naturally engage in fantasy play, the benefits of structured student storytelling and story acting can permeate the whole world of the classroom.

Recommendations: Tom Powell, Social Work, Professor, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI, 734.763.5930, tpowell@umich.edu Deena Heath, Director, Moscow Arts Commission, Moscow, ID, 208.883.7036, dheath@ci.moscow.id.us