Barbara Mariconda and Dea Paoletta Auray
While teaching second grade at Mill Hill School in Fairfield, Connecticut, Barbara Mariconda and Dea Paoletta Auray developed a highly successful writing program that inspired students and quickly caught the attention of fellow teachers. The program grew out of a need for a consistent, manageable, effective approach to the instruction of writing. Over a period of five years, in the real world of the classroom, the Empowering Writers Approach was developed and fine-tuned. During this time, Mill Hill’s fourth graders made a 45 point increase in their narrative writing scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test and became enthusiastic, confident writers.

In order to share their high impact methodologies with colleagues nationwide and build on the tremendous response from children, parents, and educators, Barbara and Dea co-founded Empowering Writers, LLC.

Recognizing teachers’ need for support materials, they have authored more than 20 resource books on narrative, expository, and persuasive writing. Additionally, Barbara is the author of more than a dozen children’s books. Her middle grade novel, Turn the Cup Around, was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award for best children’s mystery. Her book The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever, which outlines the Empowering Writers narrative writing approach, is published by Scholastic. She is also the author of Scholastic’s comprehensive Step by Step Strategies for Teaching Expository Writing and Easy and Effective Ways to Communicate With Parents.

Dea and Barbara have co-authored two other professional books on writing for Scholastic: Super Story Writing Strategies and Easy Art Activities that Spark Super Writing.

Dea and Barbara have served as adjunct professors at Sacred Heart University’s Graduate School of Education, teaching Children’s Literature and Process Writing. They have presented their unique program and showcased their practical, teacher-friendly resource materials at professional development workshops and conferences from coast to coast, including presentations for the Connecticut and California Reading Associations, The Connecticut Early Childhood Education Council, and the NCTE National Conference.