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Up until now, you have known me as the Co-Editor of The Missouri Reader. This summer I have the honor of officially beginning my new term as president of the Missouri Literacy Association. I have been an ILA (formerly IRA) member since 1985 and I have been a reading teacher for over four decades.
MLA is entering a period of great change and great promise. We recently completed all the requirements for becoming an affiliate of the ILA. I want to give a special thank you to all who put a great deal of time and effort into making this happen. Your MLA board completed training this spring that will help them get ready for the new ways of doing things. Through The Missouri Reader, our website, and our Facebook page, we will be bringing you details about what this affiliation entails and all the new opportunities it will present.
Let me assure you that while there will be some new procedures, there are some things that have not changed and will not change. The Missouri Literacy Association has been a place for educators who love literacy as much as you do to gather, share ideas, and recharge their batteries. As an organization, we will continue to have many options for you — periodic gatherings, literacy projects, a Facebook page that is updated every day and our website. If you haven’t been to our Facebook page lately, I think you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise. In the period from April 28 - May 25, we reached sixteen thousand people and had over 4,000 engagements with our posts. You’ll find our Facebook page has become a daily source of inspiration and information. Please do have a look- I think you’ll like it (look for Missouri Literacy Association @mscira. )
In addition to publishing The Missouri Reader, we are co-sponsors of the Write to Learn conference. As your president, I hope to encourage the adoption of some new activities such as a monthly Twitter chat and providing daily information through Twitter. We will need some members to step up and help us to expand into this part of the cyberworld (see pg 45). I also hope to establish standing committees to help with the work of MLA. I love being involved in projects where we get books into the hands of kids who have no books of their own at home. It is so thrilling to see their reaction to getting a book that is theirs, and that is about something about which they really care. We have had several projects like that as part of our state chapter with over 20,000 books distributed and I know local chapters have had and will have similar service projects. PLEASE tell us about them! Share the good news of what your are doing for literacy.
So I hope you will find MLA a place that supports you in becoming that teacher who loves literacy and who makes reading and writing joyful activities for their students.
Happy Reading and Writing.
Dr. Sam Bommarito
President of the Missouri Literacy Association
President's Message
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
(Click on each date's link to get more information about that event)
Feb. 27th - 29th 2020
October 10–13, 2019
Editors' Expressions
Steve Baybo