Eastern Oregon University > Press > Knowles awarded Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant

Knowles awarded Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant

Knowles awarded Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant

Contact: Hannah Breaux | Phi Kappa Phi
800.804.9880 ext. 218 | hbreaux@phikappaphi.org
Professor Nancy Knowles
Professor Nancy Knowles

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi has named Nancy Knowles recipient of a 2014 Literacy Grant.

Knowles, a professor of English and writing at EOU, is one of 14 recipients nationwide to receive the award.

The $2,500 grant will be used to support “Write Now” youth programs provided by the Oregon Writing Project at EOU. The programs, hosted throughout rural central and eastern Oregon, encourage children’s self-esteem, provide incentives to stay connected with academics, and build healthy relationships between youth and adults.

Activities that comprise the program include the Student Writers’ Workshop, a Saturday youth writing conference in La Grande serving 150 youth, a partnership with the visually-stunning online teen literary magazine Torches n’ Pitchforks in Crook County, and a partnership with Wallowa County’s Building Healthy Families, which aims to infuse writing activities into after-school programs that reach more than 70 children across three school districts.

The Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant program was initiated in 2003 to provide funding to chapters and active members for ongoing projects or new initiatives that reinforce part of the society’s mission “to engage the community of scholars in service to others.” Drawing from a multi-disciplinary society of students and scholars from large and small institutions, applicants are encouraged to consider literacy projects that have creative relevance to their disciplines and to the needs of their communities.

Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. For more see www.phikappaphi.org.