Former Site Director and Summer Institute Co-Director Liz Prather recently published her second book, Story Matters, with Heinemann. Prather was able to catch up with renowned educator Kelly Gallagher, who wrote the foreword to her book, at the 2019 National Council of Teachers of English Convention. In Story Matters, Prather shares strategies for helping writers use narrative to bring information to life to make real and compelling arguments. Prather shared some of her tips during the Morehead Writing Project’s Fall 2019 Writing Retreat and at the Kentucky Writing Project’s 2019 Conference.
This is Prather’s second book with Heinemann. She published Project-Based Writing in 2017. Using the tenets of project-based learning, Project-Based Writing provides a seven step structure to conceive, manage, and deliver writing projects built upon student voice and student choice.
Prather is a regular professional development presenter and also blogs about teaching at Teach Like Everyone’s Listening.
While currently teaching writing at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Prather has also taught at Montgomery County High School and Morehead State University. Her primary teaching responsibility is teaching writing as an elective in the performing arts magnet program, the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA) embedded at Lafayette.
Prather has been involved with the Morehead Writing Project, Kentucky Writing Project, and National Writing Project for much of her teaching career and has served on the Leadership Team for much of that time. She has also served as Online Summer Institute Coordinator, Writing Retreat Coordinator, and led the site’s Rural Voices Radio project.
“I can’t count the many ways that Liz has served the Morehead Writing Project. She is a wonderful teacher and writer and editor,” said Site Director Deanna Mascle. “Every time she leads an professional development session I learn and grow as a teacher and writer.”