• Outstanding Middle Level Educator Award
• Richard W. Halle Award (junior high/middle level educators)

Featured Affiliate: Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA) Profile by Debbie Thomas, SCOA Representative, Region 2

The Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA) began its affiliation with NCTE in 1957 as the English Association of Ohio. From that time to present, OCTELA has been an educational leader in Ohio and at the national level regarding educational policies and teacher advocacy. The strength of OCTELA is found in its diverse group of dedicated board members. A few of the more unique liaison board positions include Pre-school, LGBTQ, Library, Ohio Department of Education, and Ohio Legislative liaison, as well as liaisons that represent all levels of public and private educational institutions.

The dedication of the board has led to numerous resources for educators readily found on theuser-friendly website. Educators can turn to this resource for censorship issues/support, legislative updates, position statements, and information on publications: Ohio Teachers Write, the award winning Ohio Voices, and the award winning OJELA. Information on the numerous educator awards sponsored by OCTELA are also found on this site, along with updates/information about the successful Spring Conference hosted each year for educators from Ohio and surrounding states. Also found on the website is the link to the free public legislative listserv that provides current updates on issues that are linked to our schools.

The work done by OCTELA over the many years of NCTE affiliation has resulted in numerous awards. A few of the most recent are the Intellectual Freedom Award, Leadership Development Award, NCTE Teachers for the Dream Award, High School Teacher of Excellence Award; awards for OJELA and Ohio Voices; and recognition as an Affiliate of Excellence Award for the past seven years. The Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts continues to sharpen its focus to empower educators so that students receive the best the classroom can offer. If you are interested in learning more about OCTELA, please contact Executive Director Karla Hieatt and/or check out the website.

Affiliate News: Several affiliates have spring conferences or projects. The following reports may inspire similar efforts and (respectful) envy.

Region 8–Suggested affiliate activities from Kim Flachmann of the Kern Council of California Association Teachers of English (one of nine councils of CATE). You saw the description of CATE’s spring conference last month.

• Prep Night at the Padre (boutique hotel in Bakersfield)–This is a Wine and Cheese Social for presenters to discuss and “rehearse” their presentations for the upcoming CATE conference. We give away five books in drawings from our “Basket of Books.”

• Debriefing–For the first time this year, we plan to host a debriefing after the state conference to discuss our observations. We also plan to brainstorm some proposals for next year.

• Summer Recruitment Postcard–One of our officers designed and mailed a membership recruitment postcard last summer and sent it to all lapsed members from the past five years.

• Speakers for Reading Institute for Academic Preparations (RIAP)–We advertise these RIAP speakers to all teachers in Kern County. We offered 1-5 CSUB quarter units of credit for the speakers and had each speaker’s main publisher on hand to sell books to the participants. Next year each registration for a RIAP speaker will include a

CATE membership for one year. Here is a list of our speakers this year: February 1, 2014: Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey on academic vocabulary, academic reading, and the Common Core State Standards (312 attendees); October 16, 2014: Pam Spycher on Academic Vocabulary (80 attendees, 8 new members); November 1, 2014: Kelly Gallagher on Academic Reading (160 attendees, 34 new members)

• KCTE Book Club–We started a Book Club this year. We plan to meet four times with a different person choosing the book and the date/time for each meeting.

• Annual Writing Contests–We advertise and promote the following writing contests: Bank of America’s Writing Contest; Henry Greef Speech Competition (Grades 6-8); Ayn Rand Book Scholarship; Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Website; CELDT; LAS Links Test; SCAP; Imagine Contest

Region 3–Several affiliates have spring conferences. Steve Hubbard summarized a few of the phenomenal themes, speakers, and awards:

South Carolina Council of Teachers of English
(SCCTE) held its annual conference at Kiawah Island Resort
on January 30 and 31; the theme was “Reimagining Writing.” In
addition to general sessions by Kelly Gallagher, Penny Kittle,
and ReLeah Lent, more than 65 concurrent sessions were led
by English educators from throughout the state. Just over 300 attendees registered to attend. SCCTE offered scholarships to
22 preservice English educators from colleges and universities
in South Carolina, allowing them to attend the conference free of charge.

The Association of College English Teachers of Alabama (ACETA) will hold its 67th annual conference March 13-14 at the University of South Alabama’s Baldwin County campus in Fairhope. The theme this year is “A Place in the Sun.” Keynote speakers are Frye Gaillard, University of South Alabama Writer in Residence, and Wayne Flynt, professor of history emeritus, Auburn University.

The Alabama Council of Teachers of English (ACTE) will hold its annual conference February 21, 2015, at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham. The conference, “Creativity in the Classroom,” will feature keynote speaker Denise Trimm as well as other presenters. In 2002 she was recognized by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) as their national teacher of the year. Presentations cover topics on writing, art, nonfiction and fiction, gaming, cross-curricular ideas, digital media, and more!

The Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE) will hold its annual
conference February 19-21 at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris,
Georgia. “Helping Students Succeed While Teaching Them What They
Need” is the conference theme. Two keynote speakers will be featured: The English/language arts program director for the Georgia Department of Education, Carolyn Waters, will speak at the Friday luncheon. The Saturday keynote speaker will be Sue Wilder, national consultant for the Developmental Studies Center.

A D(i)os of Humor: Richard Lederer popularized lists of students’ miswordings, misspelings, and misapprehensions (see also his blog, Verbivore). In that spirit, Curt Bobbitt
(SCOA Representative, Region 7) offers the following lists of coinages from papers, projects, and presentations that contain the spark of “descriptatory” genius: