Letter from the Director

In the days of yore, the word “milestone” referred quite literally to the stone on the side of the road that helped a traveler know where she was in her journey. These days we tend to use the word more figuratively. Milestones are often used in reference to growing children, when, for example, a child crawls or walks or says her first word or loses her first tooth. 

This spring Writers in the Schools (WITS) will reach a major milestone, our 25th anniversary. I find it interesting to think about the growth of an organization because it is a somewhat amorphous thing. When a person lives 25 years, she can celebrate her individual accomplishment. She achieves the milestone by surviving that period of time. When you're talking about an organization, you have a multitude of people involved, often with limited tenure, over the period of time. 

At WITS there is no one person who has experienced the entire history of the organization. I have been the director for 12 years, which is less than half of its life. What this means is that the purpose of WITS has been so compelling that at any time during that 25 year period there were people who were committed enough to this mission to make sure that the organization thrived. Thousands of children have been the beneficiaries.

For its origination, WITS owes manifold thanks to founders Marvin Hoffman and Philip Lopate, as well as to founding directors Mary Laub and Victoria Jones. The Houston Endowment and The Engelhard Foundation were key funders in the early years. When we were trying to come up with a proper celebration, naturally we wanted to honor our key people, but we also wanted to credit everyone who had contributed to the WITS legacy—students, parents, teachers, writers, funders, board members, and collaborators. So we are launching a campaign called “Where are we Now?” in which we hope to “check in” with people involved in WITS from the years past. In this issue of A New Leaf, we feature a story about Yisel Uranga, a former WITS student who was living in a homeless shelter when we met her and is now attending UT on full scholarship.

We hope that you will email or phone us with your answer to this question: Where are you now?  Please call 713.523.3877 or email Jennifer Watson, Communications Manager, at jwatson@witshouston.org.  The responses will be collected on the WITS blog and Web site, as well as in other WITS publications. Happy 25th anniversary!