NCTE Standing Committee on Affiliates

NCTE’s Leisure Reading Position: NCTE developed a position defining and encouraging leisure reading with the International Reading Association (now the International Literacy Association) and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Two principles underlie the statement and “recommended practices for supporting leisure reading in classrooms and beyond the school”:

• Teachers, librarians, and parents work together to provide students wide ranges of genres and topics they might find interesting. The site lists five helpful databases of suggestions.
• School-based leisure reading can increase benefits “by incorporating reflection, response, and sharing in a wide range of ways that are not evaluated.”

Affiliate Leadership Meeting, July 8-10: Leaders from regions 2, 4, 5, and 6 should plan to attend this year’s annual leadership meeting in St. Louis (with NCTE’s cost-share). See the details on the NCTE website. In addition to working with regional representatives from the Standing Committee on Affiliates and NCTE staff, participants will learn of Vice President Jocelyn Chadwick’s initiative for the 2017 Annual Convention—”Empowerment: Dismantling and Rebuilding, Recapturing Our Voices, Our Agency, Our Mission.” Jocelyn added the following reflection to the April conference call of SCOArepresentatives:

“As your liaison, I want to pursue an ongoing conversation–both sharing and, most importantly, listening. Sharing: our new initiative for transparency, collaboration, and a focus on our membership of teachers. With this aim in mind, I look forward to listening in on your conversations and groups during our time together this summer and to continuing the conversation throughout my tenure on the presidential team and, hopefully, beyond.”

Maine Council’s New Website: The Maine Council of English Language Arts (MCELA) has redesigned its logo and website. (The new logo and website was one of the projects MCELA planned at last year’s leadership meeting.) To reinforce the initiative, visit pages such as Northwords and Dine and Discuss. Send comments and likes to MCELA: [email protected].

Tell the US DOE Your Thoughts: The United States Department of Education requests your input and feedback regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Comments are due by May 25, 2016, and can be sent to [email protected]. For details, please visit the request for feedback page.

July 15 Deadlines: Affiliate presidents and executive directors, please complete the annual report for your affiliate before July 15. The forms are available on the NCTE website. Separate forms are available for student affiliates to file their annual reports.

If you are proud of your affiliate’s accomplishments during this academic year, apply for the Affiliate Excellence Award before the July 15 deadline. Applications for the Student Affiliate Excellence Award are also due before July 15.

How the Nebraska English Language Arts Council Used its NCTE Teachers for the Dream Grant: Thanks to an NCTE grant, the Nebraska English Language Arts Council (NELAC) recognized and rewarded the work of several teachers of color.

“This year, we offered 15 scholarships and all 15 were claimed by teachers of color.  We had eight teachers from Omaha, three from Lincoln, and four from the Macy Native American Reservation. They were all at various levels of their teaching careers. We did encourage several to consider the NCTE Teachers for the Dream Award and now, this year, have a nominee for the award for next year’s application” (from the report to NCTE)!

“The scholarship teachers also were matched with a ‘seasoned’ NELAC member—a colleague that could assist them with answers to questions. This assistance varied with the level of experience of the teacher—however, all mentors and teachers of color agreed it was a ‘fun’ way to get to network with another teacher.”

Information about the NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Affiliate Award is available on the NCTE website.

Plan for 2016 NCTE Annual Convention: Registration fees are now available for budgeting on the NCTE Annual Convention site. Make plans to attend November 17-22, in Atlanta.

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