Congratulations to Carolyn Johnson, winner of the International Reading Association 59th Annual Conference “registration refund” contest!

IRA members who registered for the conference prior to January 31, 2014 were given the chance to get up to $319 of registration fees refunded by IRA.

Johnson is a fourth grade teacher at Royal Palm Elementary in Lauderhill, Florida. This is her first year as an IRA member, and she’s looking forward to attending the IRA Conference in May (another first!). One of her favorite quotes comes from Frederick Douglass: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

She is interested in many sessions at the IRA Conference in New Orleans, including Complex Texts vs. Complex Tasks, The Lit-Hit List: Top Ten Ways to Integrate Technology in the Literacy Classroom, Closer Reading in the Content Areas: Giving Students Engaging Reasons to Reread, Rethink, Discuss, and Debate, and Reading to Write, Writing to Read: Strategies to Support the Common Core State Standards.

Haven’t registered for IRA 2014? Attendees who sign up before Early Bird Registration ends on April 14, 2014 and book a conference hotel will be entered to win our VIP prize pack. Unlike the refund promotion, this one is open to everyone (and not just IRA members).

Look for Carolyn Johnson at the IRA Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, from May 9-12, 2014. Visit www.iraconference.org to register or to read more about the event.

Sara Long is an editor/content manager at the International Reading Association.