Tria Wood discusses a poem with a WITS 4th grade student.

Tria Wood has worked with WITS as a writer for  five years.  She is a gifted writer and educator, who combines writing, art, music, and science to make the creative process exciting to students.  Tria is currently completing a young adult novel, in addition to writing reviews of local art events.  This is what she had to say about her motivations for working with WITS and why she enjoys it:

In 1983, Jane Creighton visited my 7th grade classroom in Edna, Texas, under the Artists and Writers program, using a model similar to the one WITS uses today. It was her visits in particular that made me decide that I wanted to be a writer. I joined the WITS team as a writer in 2005 and have been teaching for WITS ever since.

So many of my students have come to me with poems or stories that they’ve written on their own because they’re so excited about writing since I’ve visited their classrooms through WITS. I love those moments when I can see that I’m passing the love of words on to them the way Jane Creighton did for me.

I feel like I learn as much from my students as they learn from me. These young writers inspire me every day with their creativity and enthusiasm. I’ve felt more “at home” working for WITS than in any other job I’ve held.

Three of the writers (teachers) from the Writers in the Schools (WITS) program will join the Poem a Day blogging team this week. Here’s a brief introduction to each one of them.

Amy Lin participated in the WITS program as an eighth grader at Sharpstown Middle School and fondly remembers her WITS writer, her Menil visit, and her anthology. She is delighted to have experienced WITS as a student and as a writer. Amy is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she received her degree in secondary education. Before joining WITS, she taught three years of freshman and sophomore English at Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas. Amy enjoys writing personal essays, reading mysteries, and perusing cookbooks. She is currently an associate editor with Texas Family Magazine and writes for their education section. This is Amy’s sixth year with WITS and her first as Field Coordinator.

Julian Martinez attended high school at Bellaire High School in Houston and graduated with a B.A. in liberal arts from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to teaching with WITS, he als leads ESL courses through Literacy Advance Houston and can be heard on the radio every Wednesday at 11:30 A.M. on 90.1 KPFT’s “Human Rights Show.” He co-edited a student newspaper at UT and has contributed articles to periodicals nationwide. He has completed one unpublished novel and is currently at work on a second. He has lived in Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, and Texas and has called Houston home now for over five years. He’s an avid runner, and in between short stories you can find him at Memorial Park.

Tria Wood  is a native Texan and lifelong art aficionado who earned her M.A. in English from Texas A&M University, where she also served as an assistant lecturer before moving to Houston. In addition, she holds an M.Ed. in Art Education from the University of Houston. For several years, she mentored disadvantaged youth through arts-based nonprofits.  Tria serves as Editor in Chief of Visual Arts for ArtsHouston magazine, which allows her to merge her passions for writing, aesthetic theory, and contemporary art. Tria’s poetry, fiction and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications; she also teaches creative writing to Houston area children through the Writers in the Schools program.

Look for their insights and their bylines in the weeks to come.