Biography

Kel Sassi is an Assistant Professor in the English department at Northern Michigan University.

Sassi co-authored three books, Writing on Demand for the Common Core State Standards Assessments(2014) Writing on Demand: Best Practice and Strategies for Success (2005) and A Student Guide to Writing on Demand (2006), with Anne Gere and Leila Christenbury. She has also published articles on anti-racist teaching practices (2008) and issues of plagiarism (2011) in English Journal with her collaborator, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. Other articles include mentorship as methodology in Qualitative Inquiry “warm demander” pedagogy in Urban Education, and immersive field experience in Multicultural Education.

A former high school English teacher, Sassi has presented around 50 professional development workshops for teachers on writing and reading strategies. She serves as the ND state representative for the Adolescent Literacy Assembly of NCTE and is the college representative for NDCTE. 

Sassi, a Fargo native who has spent the majority of her life in Alaska, enjoys cross-country skiing, bicycling and travel with her partner and their two children.