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February 2018
Previously, I referenced that changes were coming to Missouri State Reading Council (MSC) as we contemplated restructuring our organization to become fully aligned with the International Literacy Association. This past December the executive board of MSC voted to pursue this course of action as it appears to offer our state and local members the greatest professional opportunities. This venture means that MSC has begun taking steps to affiliate under the International Literacy Association. We are now officially the Missouri Literacy Association (MLA) and we are in the process of filing the necessary documents to reincorporate in Delaware under ILA as our parent organization.
Why take this action? Over the past several years, state membership/leadership has declined as local councils have dissolved and as local council membership/leadership has declined which has impacted the ability of MSC to meet its goals and to fulfill its mission of supporting literacy in our state. Now with the support of ILA we will be able to rebrand and to rebuild our state association and local affiliates into a strong and responsive network of literacy educators.
As we work through this process we will reach out to our active councils to give them direction on how they can restructure along with MLA under ILA as our parent organization.
In the meantime, there are good things happening in MLA. We are again a partner in the Write to Learn Conference - one of the most outstanding writing conferences in our area. We continue to partner with St. Louis Suburban Council on the R.E.A.D initiative putting books into the hands of deserving students. The spring issue of The Missouri Reader will be released at the Write to Learn Conference and you will not want to miss out on this issue which is focused on differentiation. Thanks to the efforts of Glenda Nugent and Sam Bommarito, the co-editors, this promises to one of the best editions ever. You can access The Missouri Reader at www.missourireading.org.
One of the best ways to keep current in the literacy world is by joining a professional organization and networking with diverse educators. The membership benefits include multiple grants and awards, a robust collection of literacy resources, and leadership opportunities. So, I encourage you to join our parent organization at www.literacyworldwide.org and to join our state association at www.missourireading.org and take the step to being the literacy change you want to see in the world.
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President's Message
President of MSC-IRA,
Tamara Jo Rhomberg
Ways to Connect
https://www.facebook.com/mscira - Look for information about upcoming events, new book releases, and links to interesting literacy information
Please join Dr. Bommarito as he talks about articles in this issue on twitter! @doctorsam7 #MoRdr
Visit our website
http://www.missouri reading.org/
Find a local council and join!
http://www.missourireading.org/membership/zones
Dates to Remember
Write to Learn Conference
International Literacy Association Conference
Dates to Remember
Write to Learn Conference, TanTarA
Feb. 15-17, 2018
St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature Expo'se St Louis Feb 27, 2018
ILA Conference, Austin, TX,
July 20-23, 2018
Editors' Expressions