Celebrate Literacy Conference Highlights and New Events

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Our conference has come and gone, but we want to take a moment and celebrate a few of the highlights. We had 65 educators participate this year, and they learned about using Marzano's six steps to vocabulary instruction along with many useful ideas to keep vocabulary learning fun and engaging from our keynote speaker, Heather Waild, Virginia's Reading Teacher of the Year.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

With our breakout session number one, participants had several options to choose from including Make and Take Resources, Reading in the Content Areas, Mentor Text Lessons, Motivation, and Growing Vocabulary through Word Study. Our presenters during the first round included Charles Richards from Roanoke, Dr. Autumn Dodge from Lynchburg College's Reading Education Program, Dr. Becky McKenzie from Buena Vista City Schools, Carla Fedeler former Literacy Coach from Lynchburg City Schools, and Angie Kraje from Bedford County Schools.

Session #2 offered completely different sessions. In the second round, we offered The Power of Poetry, Project Based Learning, Making Sightwords Stick, and Literature Circles. Presenters from the second round included Carla Fedeler and Angie Kraje, PARC Co-Presidents, as well as Heather Waild and Tara Breeden from Waynesboro. We greatly appreciate all of the hard work and preparation our presenters made to share their expertise with us.

DOOR PRIZES

In addition to the many sessions offered, guests enjoyed breakfast and door prizes. Each person who attended this year was able to take home a door prize thanks to the generous contributions of our sponsors. We greatly appreciate their support and ask that our conference guests take a moment to say thank you if you get an opportunity.

Central Virginia Community College-Facility Use

Joe Beans

Givens and Little Dickens

Outback Steakhouse

Zoey's Kitchen

Mia Bella Hair Salon

Massage Envy

Wasabi 

Sarah Hankinson-31 Bags

Longeberger Basket

Teacher bag from Haley Walgomat

15 Meal Deals from Jersey Mikes

BOGO Cards from Chipotle

Yellow Sub

Books from Charles Richards

Two Author Studies from Comprehension Connection

Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card from Heather Waild

5 Flashdrives full of resources from Heather Waild

Gift Certificates from TPT Sellers: 

Ideas by Jivey

Mandy Gregory

Primary Planet

Selma Dawani

Cathy Collier-The WISE Owl

Chrissy Beltran-Buzzing with Ms B

KABB Resources

Ms. Jordan Reads

Reading in Room 11

Andrea Crawford-This Literacy Life

Taryn's Unique Resources, and

Luckyfrog

MEMBERSHIP

Our board greatly appreciates all who joined us this year, and we look forward to continuing the tradition of offering this conference next year at the end of September. Once a date is secured, we will share it here as well as with your division contacts. It is open to all teachers (public, private, and homeschooling) from these communities:

Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Danville, Emporia, Greenville City, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward

COMING SOON: YOUNG WRITERS

In closing, we have two big announcements to share. First, we are ready to kick off our 2017-18 Young Writer's Contest. It is open to all students in grades K-12 who reside in the communities above.  The rules and forms are available from our Google Drive [HERE]. Please feel free to download and participate. Remember, the contest is open to ALL students in the PARC region. On April 21st, we will celebrate our contest winners with a wonderful reception including parents, teachers, and our honorees.

In addition to kicking off our Young Writers contest, we also have a date and location for our Unconference. Teachers....we know you need a night to kick back and relax, so we hope you'll join us for...

This event will be free for members and $30 for nonmembers. We will be collecting new and gently used books that evening to donate to The Boys and Girls Club. We ask those who are coming to collect donations and bring them that evening. More details to come...

If you have questions about anything shared or if you're needing support in the area of literacy, please feel free to email our board at vsrapiedmont@gmail.com. We will be glad to help you.

Sincerely,

The PARC Board