The International Literacy Association (ILA) is dedicated to providing our members with the resources and expertise to inspire their students and each other in the charge for literacy. And it is in seeing the fruits of our members’ efforts that we, too, are inspired. Administrators and advocates, authors and librarians—their accomplishments have not gone unnoticed.
There are so many, we couldn’t fit them all in Literacy Today, so we offer our congratulations here. From teaching awards, to published works, to career milestones, we hope these accomplishments will inspire you, too.
Awards
Desiree Alexander, a media specialist at Zachary Career and Technical Center in Louisiana, received the 2015 School Library Media Specialist Award from the Louisiana Association of School Librarians. Alexander also facilitates distance learning and career education.
Kathleen Davin, a reading specialist at Key Elementary School in Virginia, was awarded an international literacy scholarship from the Virginia State Reading Association. Davin is the project leader of a literacy project in Guatemala cosponsored by the Greater Washington Reading Council.
Stephanie Grote-Garcia, assistant professor at the University of the Incarnate Word and board member of ILA’s Specialized Literacy Professionals SIG, won the Jack Cassidy Distinguished Service Award. This award is given annually by the Texas Association for Literacy Education (TALE), a state affiliate of ILA.
Lindsey Parker, of North DeSoto Elementary in Louisiana, received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award. A former ELA teacher, Parker serves as a master teacher for the school’s Teacher Advancement Program, in which she conducts weekly professional development meetings and practices team teaching. Parker’s activities also include creating guidebooks and assessments for ELA standards and serving as a teacher leader and advisor for the Louisiana Department of Education.
Vickie Plant, a kindergarten teacher at Golson Elementary School in Florida, was recognized with a Governor’s Shine Award, an honor reserved for those who display outstanding commitment to their students. Along with ILA membership, Plant is a member of the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Delise Hall Sanders was inducted into the Society of the Golden Key at the University of West Alabama, the highest honor given to a UWA graduate. Sanders retired in 2014 after teaching in the Sumner County School System in Tennessee for 18 years, though her teaching career spanned 40 years, including time spent in leadership positions in the North Central Reading Association and the Tennessee Reading Association.
Books
David L. Harrison, Poet Laureate of Drury University in Missouri and poet/author of 90 books for young people and classroom teachers, wrote “Poetry, the Write Thing to Do” as Chapter 1 in ILA’s new release, Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: Engaging Young Readers in the 21st Century (4th ed.).
Judy Reinhartz, science literacy specialist, professor emerita, professional development consultant, and author, released her new publication, Growing Language Through Science: Strategies That Work, Grades K–5 (Corwin). The book offers a model for contextualizing language and promoting academic success for all students, particularly English learners.
Vivian Yenika-Agbaw, a professor in the department of Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State, and Teresa Sychterz, elementary education professor at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, released their coedited book, Adolescents Rewrite Their Worlds: Using Literature to Illustrate Writing Forms (Rowman & Littlefield). The book offers ways to engage middle grades students to read and write culturally authentic texts and to participate in 21st-century literacies.
Career News
Linda Goewey was named the new superintendent of the Hudson Falls Central School District in New York, effective July 1. She is currently serving as assistant superintendent of instruction and personnel at the Central Square Central School District.
Anne-Marie Harrison, of the Provo City School District in Utah, was named the district’s new executive director of teaching and learning. Harrison’s career includes time spent as an elementary school teacher, district literacy specialist, school improvement specialist, and principal. She most recently served as director of literacy and instruction for the Provo district.