NMU Professor Kel Sassi Brings Upper Peninsula Perspective to Statewide English Teachers Conference

MARQUETTE, Mich. - September 16, 2026 - Northern Michigan University English Professor Dr. Kel Sassi, President-elect of the Michigan Council for Teachers of English (MCTE), is bringing an Upper Peninsula perspective to this year's statewide conference for English language arts educators.

The 2026 MCTE Fall Conference, "Writing/Righting Our Place: Grounding Our Teaching Practices Where We Live," will take place Friday, Oct. 16, at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The conference will explore connections among writing, place, experiential learning and Indigenous ways of teaching.

Sassi is only the second MCTE president from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The first was her Northern Michigan University colleague, Dr. Kia Jane Richmond, who served as MCTE president in 2011 and later as an interim co-president in 2022.

As conference designer, Sassi intentionally developed this year's theme with the experiences of Michigan-and particularly U.P.-English teachers in mind.

"I'm excited to bring an appreciation of land into the conference theme," said Dr. Sassi, "and I encourage teachers to bring students out of the classroom to write."

The conference invites educators to consider the places where they live and teach as resources for literacy learning. The official conference description emphasizes the Great Lakes region and the homelands of the Anishinaabe peoples while encouraging teachers to connect writing instruction with students' identities, communities and lived environments.

Teachers attending the conference will have opportunities to learn throughout the day, with presentations offered every hour for educators working across the full educational spectrum, from pre-K through college. Sessions address a range of approaches to English language arts teaching, providing opportunities for elementary, middle school, high school and college educators to share ideas and practices.

The conference features keynote speakers Rob and Amanda Montgomery, authors of A Place to Write: Getting Your Students Out of the Classroom and into the World. Their work focuses on place-based writing and creating authentic opportunities for students to explore, research and write about the world beyond the classroom.

The luncheon speaker is Kristin Arola, Gillmor Endowed Professor of Professional and Public Writing and director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Michigan State University. Arola grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and her scholarship focuses on writing, Indigenous knowledge systems, multimodal composing and environmental challenges.

A pre-conference workshop and social will be held Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5:30-8 p.m., featuring Michigan Writing Project leaders discussing new initiatives in the teaching of writing.

MCTE is a statewide professional organization serving K-16 English language arts teachers and English educators. The organization provides professional development, networking and resources for educators throughout Michigan.

Conference Information:
What: MCTE Fall Conference 2026 - Writing/Righting Our Place: Grounding Our Teaching Practices Where We Live
When: Friday, October 16, 2026, 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Where: Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Who: English language arts educators from pre-K through college
More information: urlMCTE Fall Conference 2026https://mymcte.org/event/mcte-fall-conference-2026/

Media Contact:
Dr. Kel Sassi
Professor of English, Northern Michigan University
President-elect, Michigan Council for Teachers of English
[email protected]
906-227-2674