Awards

Elizabeth Reichardt, a reading specialist and instructional coach at Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island, was named the 2016 Teacher of the Year for the Foster-Glocester Regional School District. Reichardt, who has worked in the district for four years, was surprised with the award at a faculty meeting in June, where staff praised her work, particularly her efforts with the school’s RTI team.

Anita Shaw was named Reading Teacher of the Year by the Granite State Reading Council in New Hampshire. Shaw has worked at Bow Memorial School since 1995 as a reading and writing specialist and an ELA, social studies, and math teacher. She has also volunteered for New Hampshire Literacy Day for the past nine years.

Career News

Eugene M. Gagliano was named the next Wyoming Poet Laureate. Gagliano, a retired elementary school teacher from Buffalo, WY, has written a number of award-winning children’s books and poetry about Wyoming and life in the West. As Poet Laureate, he will read at state and legislative events, as well as work with the Wyoming Arts Council to instill a love of poetry in students.

Rebecca Pitkin was named the new executive director of the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board, providing a unique opportunity to work with both K–12 and higher education professionals. Pitkin had served for the past four years as principal of Jefferson Elementary School in Dickinson, and before that was an associate professor of education at Dickinson State University.

Have news to share with your ILA colleagues? Send an announcement about an award received, book published, or other career news to literacytoday@reading.org and it could appear in the next issue of Literacy Today as well as on our blog, Literacy Daily. The submission should be 200 words or less and should be accompanied by a JPG or PNG photo.