Ruie J. Pritchard, Ph.D.
I was a middle and high school and college teacher of English and Reading in Missouri and New Orleans before coming to NC State. Currently, I am a Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis English Education. My responsibilities include working in graduate and undergraduate education as well as research. From 1983 to 2011, I served as Director of the CAWP at NC State , an award winning National Writing Project site that offered fellowships to K-12 teachers from all disciplines and grade levels to enhance their abilities as writers and teachers of writing. For my outreach contributions in literacy, in 2002 I received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award, one of three on the NC State campus. For my research article on professional development in literacy, in 2003 she received Best Research Article from the National Staff Development Council. I also established writing projects in New Zealand while I was on a Fulbright senior researcher award with the New Zealand Ministry of Education. My research areas include the teaching of writing, professional development of literacy teachers, and the school district organization that enables teachers to grow. I have a chapter devoted to the research on the process approach to teaching writing and the National Writing Project in Handbook of Research on Teaching Writing (2006), as well as a chapter on best practices on implementing a process approach in Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (2007). In 2011 and in 2013, I took 28 North Carolina teachers with me to study Writing and Technology at the University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
Where I'm From
Ruie Pritchard
I’m from paper dolls and Raggedy Ann,
Dress up boxes in the attic,
Halloween candy stowed in the recess of Charles’ closet,
Swarming with water bugs by November.
I’m from forts made of blocks, left mid-battle on the living room floor,
Crayon drawings posted on the ice box,
Roller skates, tricycles, jumping ropes, and hand-me-downs.
I’m from backyard circuses, sand boxes, Hopscotch,
Red Rover Red Rover, jacks,
Baseball games on Bellefontaine, dodge ball at S. B. Ladd, and
Kick-the-can games until dusk.
I’m from Jello cooling on the back porch, sheets blowing on the clothesline,
Fire hydrants gushing onto steaming streets,
Snow angels capturing my shape, and
Sled rides with Maggie and Bonnie.
I’m from Carol Barrell, Snarly Charlie, Screwy Ruie, and Slobby Bobby.
I’m from ice cream socials, piano lessons, school boy sandwiches,
Oak Park Theater on Saturdays, and
Bible quizzes in Sunday School.
I’m from Granny Lu’s homemade bread,
The tire swing on the apple tree, the outhouse and chicken yard,
The rope swing in Edna’s barn,
The hollyhocks on the back fence, the tiger lilies at the gate,
Blackberry picking at Dave Rock,
And Sunday dinner in El Dorado Springs.
I’m from the Paper boy, the Jewel Tea Man, the Manor Bread Man,
The Ice Cream Man, the Milkman, the Mail Man,
And the beggar at the back step.
I’m from “Don’t cross 39th Street!” and
“Wait till your father gets home!,” and
“One day you’ll thank me.”
And I do.
I’m from paper dolls and Raggedy Ann,
Dress up boxes in the attic,
Halloween candy stowed in the recess of Charles’ closet,
Swarming with water bugs by November.
I’m from forts made of blocks, left mid-battle on the living room floor,
Crayon drawings posted on the ice box,
Roller skates, tricycles, jumping ropes, and hand-me-downs.
I’m from backyard circuses, sand boxes, Hopscotch,
Red Rover Red Rover, jacks,
Baseball games on Bellefontaine, dodge ball at S. B. Ladd, and
Kick-the-can games until dusk.
I’m from Jello cooling on the back porch, sheets blowing on the clothesline,
Fire hydrants gushing onto steaming streets,
Snow angels capturing my shape, and
Sled rides with Maggie and Bonnie.
I’m from Carol Barrell, Snarly Charlie, Screwy Ruie, and Slobby Bobby.
I’m from ice cream socials, piano lessons, school boy sandwiches,
Oak Park Theater on Saturdays, and
Bible quizzes in Sunday School.
I’m from Granny Lu’s homemade bread,
The tire swing on the apple tree, the outhouse and chicken yard,
The rope swing in Edna’s barn,
The hollyhocks on the back fence, the tiger lilies at the gate,
Blackberry picking at Dave Rock,
And Sunday dinner in El Dorado Springs.
I’m from the Paper boy, the Jewel Tea Man, the Manor Bread Man,
The Ice Cream Man, the Milkman, the Mail Man,
And the beggar at the back step.
I’m from “Don’t cross 39th Street!” and
“Wait till your father gets home!,” and
“One day you’ll thank me.”
And I do.