About the Author
- Photo by Ulrika Gaver Gerth
Bruce M. Penniman, the author of Building the English Classroom: Foundations, Support, Success (NCTE, 2009) taught English for 36 years at Amherst Regional High School, where he also held the positions of department chair and instructional director. In 1999, he was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. A past president of the New England Association of Teachers of English, he has also edited NEATE’s journal, The Leaflet, and the NCTE Assembly on American Literature newsletter, This Is Just to Say (now Notes on American Literature). A teacher-consultant with the Western Massachusetts Writing Project since 1994, he served as the site’s co-director from 1994 to 2002 and director from 2003 to 2007. Currently semi-retired, he is still active in the National Writing Project, facilitating in-service workshops, co-coordinating the Massachusetts Writing Project network, serving on the State and Regional Networks Leadership Team, and assisting with National Reading Initiative projects. He serves on the NEATE Executive Board and is active in the Teacher Leadership Academy of Massachusetts. He also teaches courses at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is co-teaching an interdisciplinary African Studies course at ARHS.
