"Talking to students and colleagues about writing, generates a greater willingness within me to continue my own writing practice. I think that this in turn allows me to teach with a greater understanding of writing's difficulties as well as its joys."
 


BIOGRAPHY

 


Kimberly Jean Smith, an English instructor and coordinator of the Writing Center at Gavilan College, is a fiction writer.

In 2006, Bookshop Santa Cruz  awarded her short story "Swallowed" in its annual contest. Her writing has also appeared in publications including: the Rio Grande Review, The Collective; Girlfriends Magazine; Metro Santa Cruz; The Californian; Homestead Review; Portland Press Herald; Casco Bay Weekly; Independent Film & Video Monthly; and Outweek Magazine.

Along with the Writing Center staff, Kimberly presented Each One Teach One: Writing Workshops in the "Basic Skills" Classroom at the 2008 Northern California Writing Centers Association Conference. A Haiku-hike writing workshop she co-developed was presented at Escuela Internacional, Malaga, Spain and annually at Gavilan College from 2000-2006.

She was a member of the 2006 Leadership Gilroy class, receiving intensive training in government and community service. She was also a teacher-leader for the Central California Writing Project where she was twice granted a fellowship for her work as a writer and teacher, presenting at the project's 2005 Writing Matters Conference, and as a co-researcher for the Academic Language Learners Project. 

In the 1990s, she was honored by the Main Press Association for news analysis in a daily paper. Additionally, the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families granted her a fellowship for her work as journalist .

A 1993 graduate of the Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism, Kimberly earned a Masters of Science degree. In 1988 she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts.  Before transferring, she was a student at Hartnell and Monterey Penninsula Community Colleges .