Scholar Roxanne Henkin Named 2012 Education Headliner by Association for Women in Communications

by Christi Fish

Education scholar Roxanne Henkin in the UTSA Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching has been named the 2012 Education Headliner by the San Antonio Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications (AWC). Henkin will receive her award at the AWC’s 32^nd Annual Awards Banquet and Silent Auction on Friday, June 22.

Henkin joined the UTSA College of Education and Human Development in 2003 with 18 years of teaching experience in the public school system and 13 years as a professor at National Louis University in Chicago. Her research interests include literacy and social justice, critical literacy, and writing, and she is the author of two books on literacy and social justice: Confronting Bullying: Literacy as a Tool for Character Education (2005) and Who’s Invited to Share: Using Literacy to Teach for Equity and Social Justice (1998). Her work has also appeared in a variety of scholarly journals such asVoices from the Middle, Democracy & Education, Language Arts, English Journal and Literacy Matters.

Henkin established the San Antonio Writing Project in 2006 as a partnership between the National Writing Project and the UTSA Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching to improve the writing of Pre-K through college students in the greater San Antonio region, particularly English Language Learners and children from impoverished areas of south Texas. It is one of more than 200 National Writing Project sites that aim to collectively improve writing instruction in K-12 classrooms across the nation. Similarly, she established the Limpopo Writing Project in South Africa, which she and the San Antonio Writing Project continue to support. The Limpopo Writing Project will hold its fourth Invitational Institute in July.

“I am honored to be receiving this award and I'd like to share it with all the teachers in the San Antonio Writing Project who do such incredible work with their students every day,” said Henkin.

 The AWC will honor six other notable professionals alongside Henkin at this year’s awards ceremony. They include:

• Elizabeth Ruiz, KTSA 550 AM/Border Media, Media Excellence Headliner
• Lucy Greer Burton, University Presbyterian Church’s Source of Light Center, Harriet Ross Individual Achievement Headliner
• David T. Young, Ph.D., Southwest Research Institute, Professional Achievement Headliner
• Mary Stanchak, Discovery School, Public Endeavor Headliner
• Patt Cantú, San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, Volunteer Service Headliner
• Susie P. Gonzalez, Trinity University, AWC Maggie Cousins Award