The answer to this question is,

"As founder, president and curriculum director of International Write Now, Inc. it is Mr. Cork's joyful honor to reassure anxious administrators, tentative teachers and all proud parents that our company is completely cognizant of the importance of reassuring teachers, principals, curriculum coordinators and ELA experts that Erik Cork’s writing celebration workshop is an academic asset worth their investment of valuable teaching time and district resources. Mr. Cork is  not in the business of confusing kids. No writing lesson Mr. Cork demonstrates during his highly interactive, hands-on and participatory Cork’s Coast-to-Coast Classroom: Rebuilding the Writing Foundation will ever dilute, contradict nor undo what students have been taught during the school year. Parents are well   within reason to ponder and wonder whether Mr. Cork’s workshop could potentially baffle and bamboozle students who participate in his session. Simply stated, Mr. Cork’s unorthodox methodologies do not conflict with classroom strategies currently being utilized and emphasized on school campuses. Children teach themselves lengthy lyrics to songs, choreographed dance moves, complex cultural cues, nuanced communication skills and codes of conduct within their various communities, then masterfully apply and retain that knowledge and particular skills well into their adulthood. 

Our mission is easily explained.  If students are not learning the way we teach, then we should teach the way they learn.   Mr. Cork’s workshop is a full-day festival of the creative writing process - beautifully blended with music, movement and waves of meaningful laughter.  It is a free-flowing festival of rigorous INSTRUCTION and student engagement.  Therefore, it would be an oxymoronic impossibility for his participatory assembly to deprive students of precious instruction time.  In fact, our workshop equips educators with teaching techniques that add value to their career cache because Mr. Cork models effective teaching alternatives that compliment reliable routines and classrooms customs that address the diverse learning styles of today’s technology-saturated adolescent scholars.  When teachers take fastidious notes and pay close attention to Mr. Cork’s in-person suggestions, they will sense his professional pleas for them to reinforce the writing tips he shares with all who are in attendance.

Mr. Cork’s motivational student writing assembly serves as a catalyst to further enhance, highlight and cement what students are already being taught in their classrooms.  Teachers and administrators are always pleased and relieved to discover that Mr. Cork repeatedly emphasizes state standardized ELA objectives and scoring strands throughout his seminar.  He speaks the academic language of test-taking terminology that each professional educator in each individual state must acknowledge, adhere to and respect.  Mr. Cork’s teaching material is carefully aligned to be consistent with higher level ELA essentials, campus goals and state guidelines for college and career readiness.

A single page excerpt from Mr. Cork’s workbook - cannot adequately convey the dynamic energy, passion and spontaneous humor he pours into each of his tailored presentations.  Legitimate concerns and lingering questions about Mr. Cork’s ability to miraculously breathe new life into the academic writing process are understandable when someone has seen him in action.  He has a 25 year track record of inspiring reluctant pupils to apply themselves to complex learning tasks and challenging writing assignments when he is leading a live audience.  He renews confidence within young scholars to effectively express their thoughts and effortlessly transfer their ideas to paper.