Associate Teaching Professor of English Jayne Thompson received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award at Widener’s 2022 faculty awards program. The honor is given annually to recognize one outstanding faculty member and is funded by the Lindback Foundation as a means of honoring dedicated faculty members at universities across the Philadelphia region.

Thompson has worked more than two decades to join her passion for teaching literature and creative writing with deep engagement in the Chester community.  She has made the act of writing a central tool for addressing the hopelessness and pain of people caught in the "school-to-prison pipeline."  Her work has grown organically from her experiences with high school students, incarcerated people and community groups.

Thompson has included students through the Chester Writers House and by creating and teaching the Community Literacy and Social Justice course. Along with Widener students, she began a women’s writing group called The World Split Open Story Collaborative for those who live, work, volunteer, and study in Chester.  It encourages women to tell their stories, share life experiences, and explore their sense of agency.

From her work with the Chester School District; Chester Made and Chester Cultural Corridor; Widener University’s service learning, Bonner Leaders, and Periclean Faculty Leadership programs; and multiple places of communal gathering, to her role on the Mayor’s Advisory Council at Chester City Hall, Thompson’s work in Chester supports vibrant communities.

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