At New Paltz, Professor Tom Meyer has excelled at promoting literacy across the disciplines.

He is passionate in his belief that teachers – no matter what subject they specialize in – must teach reading and writing.

As an associate professor of Secondary Education in the School of Education, Meyer teaches his students to embrace the practice of reassessing their teaching lessons and learning from what works and doesn’t work in the classroom. He says it is important, and sometimes difficult, to look at methods that don’t work, but it can be a powerful learning experience.

Before entering into higher education, Meyer, who describes himself as a generalist at heart, taught natural science at the elementary school level and English at the high school level. 

"I always liked all subjects," he said. "I still do."

Meyer says that his varied experiences have allowed him to teach students preparing to become tomorrow's science, math and English teachers. However, Meyer’s work with teachers from across the disciplines extends beyond the college classroom.

In 2001, Meyer founded the Hudson Valley Writing Project (HVWP) with Secondary Education professor Mary Sawyer and Secondary Education adjunct professor emeritus Bonnie Kaplan. The program, with its home base at New Paltz, is a regional site of the National Writing Project. Meyer serves as one of the directors of the program.

The mission of the organization is to support teachers from across all subject and grade levels in their efforts to promote lifelong literacy.  The HVWP carries out this mission by providing professional development programs for teachers, such as the free Saturday Seminar workshops and the Invitational Summer Institute. All HVWP programs are designed to build on successful teachers’ knowledge of literacy development and practice while providing powerful hands-on experiences for participating teachers. Programs for middle and high school students are available as well. The Young Writers Camp is a two-week program geared for young adults looking to enrich their writing through a series of workshops.

Meyer, who has worked with various writing projects for more than 16 years, says that literacy – reading, writing thinking and speaking – are fundamental skills with which to participate, contribute and thrive in a democratic society.