APSU alumnus and poet to read passages of his work at local high school
April 22, 2002Austin Peay alumnus and poet Jeff Hardin, assistant professor of English at Columbia State Community College, will visit Northwest High School from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 26, in support of Read To Succeed Day.
Hardin's visit to Northwest is sponsored by Austin Peay's Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, which awarded him the Center's creative writing scholarship award when he was a student. He graduated from APSU with a B.S. degree in 1990 and received an M.F.A. degree in creative writing from the University of Alabama.
April 22, 2002
Austin Peay alumnus and poet Jeff Hardin, assistant professor of English at Columbia State Community College, will visit Northwest High School from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 26, in support of Read To Succeed Day.
Hardin's visit to Northwest is sponsored by Austin Peay's Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, which awarded him the Center's creative writing scholarship award when he was a student. He graduated from APSU with a B.S. degree in 1990 and received an M.F.A. degree in creative writing from the University of Alabama.
A two-time recipient of the Academy of American Poets Award, Hardin's new booklet, "Deep in the Shallows," is to be published soon by Green Tower Press, Northwest Missouri State University.
Marlon Crow, associate director of the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, praises Hardin as "one of this country's brightest young writers." Crow represents the Center in a partnership with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System as part of the Partners in Education Program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Sally Keith is the curriculum and instruction supervisor for the CMCSS.
Read to Succeed Day brings together a variety of volunteers to visit 9th through 12th grade classrooms and read passages from various sources, including poetry, short stories and famous quotations. Northwest High School librarian, Vickie Warren, coordinated the recruitment of readers, ranging from community leaders to retirees. She feels that the wide variety of volunteers highlights the value of reading to succeed, whether the end result is professional growth or personal enrichment.
"Reading is essential to every aspect of life," said Warren, "and the range of volunteers participating in Read to Succeed Day will demonstrate that to our students."
Notable volunteers at Read to Succeed Day include CMCSS director, Dr. Sandra Husk, and the chief academic officer, Dr. B. J. Worthington, as well as Mayor Johnny Piper, State Senator Rosalind Kurita and County Commissioner R. Q. Olds.
For more information telephone 7876.