Annual Conference

Originally using humorous videos to encourage his staff, Gerry has become a national encourager for teachers through social media and speaking events. He is a voice for teachers, but his passion is leading others to be responsible for their own personal climate and culture in the workplace. His book, “Go See the Principal,” outlines strategies for taking on this responsibility. Gerry and his wife, Kelly, have 3 adult children and live in Lexington, KY.

As a holistic, social justice educator, Dr. Myers’ personal commitment is to ensure that ALL children receive a humanizing education that honors their histories, heritages, literacies, languages, cultures, family structures, and communities as assets for learning. Her passion for affecting change pushes her work beyond the walls of her university into the schools and communities in which children work, live, and learn.

Currently, she teaches embedded literacy methods, reading assessment, and culturally sustaining pedagogy courses for undergraduates and master’s level pre-service teachers at Wake Forest. Her research focuses on culturally sustaining pedagogy and familial networks of support in children’s literacy development. Dr. Myers is the president of Literacies and Languages for All (LLA) and serves on the board of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). She is the former chair of the Early Childhood Education Assembly (ECEA), and a former Cultivating New Voices Scholar (CNV), She owns an educational consulting company, Michele Myers’ Consulting Company, LLC.

Sponsored by Scholastic

an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit, an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE, as well as a Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as The Restorative Practices Playbook, PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, Building Equity, and Better Learning Through Structured Teaching. He can be reached at dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu.

Association's Literacy Research Panel. Her published titles include Visible Learning in Literacy, This Is Balanced Literacy, Removing Labels, and Rebound. Nancy is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California and learns from teachers and students every day.

With a deep knowledge of content, standards, and best practices, Whitney enjoys delivering professional development and coaching teachers to support children as they develop their identities in the world of literacy. She continues to learn from children each day.

Co-sponsored by Stenhouse Publishers

Conversation, and Confidence, was published in 2019 by Stenhouse Publishers. Since 2012, Trevor has presented his work which focuses on reading comprehension, writer’s craft (story-sharing) and arts integration at numerous national and state art and literacy conferences. Trevor has also consulted The Princeton University Art Museum and award-winning and bestselling author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds’ education company, FableVision Learning. Find Trevor on Twitter, @TrevorABryan, on Facebook through The Art of Comprehension page or through his Blog, Four O”Clock Faculty.

Informed by a 35-year teaching career working with culturally diverse, underrepresented students, Kelly has developed and shares an ever-evolving body of work that helps teachers engage and empower even the most reluctant readers and writers. Kelly is the former president of the Secondary Reading Group for the International Literacy Association and the singular author of several professional development books valued by educators and education schools worldwide, including Readicide and Write Like This. His most recent books include 180 Days and 4 Essential Studies, both co-written with Penny Kittle. Follow Kelly on Twitter @KellyGToGo and visit him at kellygallagher.org.

He earned his undergraduate degree in Sociology from Clemson University and a Masters of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University. Jamison became interested in teaching as a child, but the career was solidified after recognizing the disparities in education in South Carolina between districts. As a Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar and product of Orangeburg County Schools, he ascribes to the proverb “to whom much is given, much is required,” further influencing his decision to teach. Jamison believes that education is liberation and teaches his students skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving to address the world’s most pressing issues. Jamison’s work has been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally from organizations such as Teach For America and the National Council of Teachers of English. Aside from accolades, Jamison is most proud of creating brave, inclusive spaces for culturally and linguistically diverse students to thrive.

His lifelong work in media literacy was recognized in 2019 by UNESCO. He is the author of “Close Reading The Media” and “Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom.”

She has written 30+ scholarly publications and developed the Record of Reading app for oral reading assessment, which has been downloaded over 400,000 times. Bates is also the author of Interactive Writing: Developing Readers through Writing (Benchmark) and the co-author of The Next Step Forward in Running Records (Scholastic). She is married and has two children.

from the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Writings From Down Through the Years and Hello Queen. Writings From Down Through the Years is an inspirational book of poetry and readings. Hello Queen is her first children's picture book. Hello Queen is a poetic portrayal of what a Queen represents - beauty, intelligence, determination, and more. Rountree is a Multilingual Learner Coach with Lexington County School District Two.

word-level difficulties for students in early grades and reading comprehension difficulties for students in later grades. His work is aimed at improving reading instruction and interventions, helping teachers make better use of assessment data to guide their instruction, and aligning evidence-based interventions with students' unique learning needs. He has over 50 publications and is leading several federal research grants that are studying the effects of interventions for struggling readers. He received his Ph.D. in school psychology from Lehigh University in 2009.

Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Katie’s teaching and research interests include engaging children in meaningful literacy experiences and practices to foster lifelong literacy, equity, and justice.

She is widely published in several peer-reviewed journals including The Reading Teacher and Voices from the Middle. She has co-authored three books: Reading To Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Think Deeply Speak Freely and Take Action (Heinemann), From Pencils to Podcasts: Digital Tools to Transform K-12 Literacy Practices (Solution Tree) and Smuggling Writing: Strategies that Get Students to Write Every Day, in Every Content Area (3-12) (Corwin) and has a new book under contract. She can be contacted on Twitter @ktkelly14 and by email katie.kelly@furman.edu.

He is the original author of the Pete the Cat series as well as the author of The Nuts, Groovy Joe, and The Poop Song. Eric is also the co-author of The Power of Joyful Reading: Help Your Young Readers Soar to Success, a popular professional development book for teachers.

His books have sold over 13 million copies, been translated into 17 languages, and won 26 literacy awards including a Theodor Geisel Seuss Honor Award.

for Illustration (2010) for his photographs accompanying the Langston Hughes poem, My People and a Coretta Scott King Honor Author Award (2008) for his biography on Muhammad Ali, Twelve Rounds to Glory. Many of his books have also garnered reluctant reader awards, proving that kids that don’t like to read, do like to read his books.

Charles’s interest in writing came first, years ago, growing up in Compton, California when he began composing simple poems and stories inspired by the books he read. "Reading books filled with stories and poems inspired me to write my own. And if I wasn't reading a book, I was playing a sport: I played everything, particularly basketball, and spent many afternoons on the court, perfecting my jump shot."

In high school, Charles’s love of writing led to him join the high school yearbook staff as a writer where he was also required to take photographs. Through trial and error, Charles soon found a new love in photography. "Right up until that point I wanted to be an astronaut, but after taking yearbook pictures nonstop for a year, I knew I wanted to become a professional photographer.”

Today, Charles combines his passions of writing and photography with a variety of subjects that spark his interest, from basketball with Rimshots, Hoop Kings and Hoop Queens to black history with 28 Days and Brick by Brick, to diversity with I Am America and I Am the World, to name just a few of his books. Many of those books have been brought to life with the launch of his YouTube channel centered around cultivating the mind, the body and spirit. From poetry performance, to favorite books, to photography how-to, to American Ninja Warrior and fitness training and more, Charles is harnessing the power of video to engage readers and educators in new ways.

Of the distinctive niche Charles fills with his books, he notes, "I want to show students, particularly boys, that there are many ways to pursue their interests, no matter what they may be."

Charles R. Smith Jr. was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He currently lives in Poughkeepsie, New York.

to implement best practices in the field of literacy. She believes that effective professional development includes side by side teaching; analysis of student work; mutual trust; respect; and a good dose of laughter. She is the co-author of, It's All About the Books published by Heinemann and Assessment in Perspective, published by Stenhouse. Clare is on the board of The Book Love Foundation and you can find her online at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and at her website, where she blogs about books and the art of teaching.

and a Washington Post Summer Book Club Selection. Her second book, A Sky Full of Stars, received a Malka Penn Honor for an outstanding children’s book addressing human rights issues and was a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year. Her most recent book, The Lucky Ones, was honored by Common Sense Media with a Common Sense Selection Seal, which honors the best new books for families and teens and recognizes and champions entertaining, high-quality books that have enriching, relatable stories and/or positive messages and role models. The Lucky Ones was inspired by Robert Kennedy’s 1967 Poverty Tour of the Mississippi Delta and is loosely based on the author’s own family’s experiences. Southern born and Southern bred, Linda Williams Jackson still calls Mississippi home.

were New York Times Bestsellers. HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is also making its way around the country in the form of a musical, written by Mark Friedman and Janet Vogt. Their musical, JINGLE AARGH THE WAY, is also based on Melinda’s work.

Other books include THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN SOUTH CAROLINA and ART SMART, SCIENCE DETECTIVE: THE CASE OF THE SLIDING SPACESHIP, HICCUP SNICKUP and WHEN PAPA SNORES.

Melinda, a long-time pirate fan, lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband, Thom, and her three spoiled dogs. She has two adult children, and two beautiful granddaughters. She holds a B.A. in education from Furman University and was a teacher for 23 years. Melinda loves acting, yoga, reading, playing the ukulele, and of course, writing. She really enjoys talking to kids about reading and writing because she likes kids as much as she likes pirates.

which received a Massachusetts Book Award Honor, and was named one of Yankee Magazine’s 40 Classic New England Children’s Books. Since then, he has illustrated twenty-one more books, nine of which he also wrote. Three titles received Parents’ Choice Gold Awards, three were named ALA Notable Books, one was an Orbis Pictus Honor Book, and eleven were selected by the Society of Illustrators for their annual Original Art exhibit. His debut graphic novel, Hoops, will be released in March, 2023.

When Matt's not working in his studio on his latest book project, he travels the country speaking and drawing at schools, libraries, conferences, and bookstores. He has presented at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Eric Carle Museum, the White House Easter Egg Roll, and he's even done a few book signings at Fenway Park.

Matt lives in Maine with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters.

and relating to others led to a decade of working for Global Expeditions Group. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Blair fulfilled her wanderlust by living and travelling worldwide. She is a wife, dedicated mother to two daughters, a sailing captain, and a PADI master scuba diver trainer. Williamson is familiar with the problems turtles have with plastic bags. Her imagination combined with a love of teaching led Blair to publish her debut children’s book to spread awareness about the danger of plastics in our oceans.

Sponsored by Plastic Ocean Project