Gift of Reading

When you love what you do, you don’t mind going above and beyond the requirements for your profession.  That is exactly what a large number of Washington County teachers did last Saturday, January 30 when they gave up their personal time to attend the Bay County Reading Association’s 25^th Annual Language Arts Conference, themed “Gift of Reading”, held at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City.  As a matter of fact, so many Washington County teachers and staff members attended that Washington County Schools were awarded the Bob McSpadden Award.  This award is given annually to the county with the highest attendance and participation outside of Bay County.

The conference highlight was the presentation given by keynote speaker Deborah Wiles, an award-winning children’s book author.  Among her accomplished works, All Stars is a SIBA Book Award Finalist and has already won the California Young Reader Medal.  Other popular titles include the following:  Little Bird, which won the Alabama Book Award, in addition to a 2005 National Book Award finalist, A golden Kite Honor Book, won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and the Bank Street Fiction Award.  Freedom Summer, another of her impressive works, was the winner of a Coretta Schott Kind/Steptoe Award, the Ezra Jack Keats Award, and the Simon Wiesenthal Award.  One of her most famous works, Ruby Lavender is an ALA and NCTE Notable Book, it was the winner of a Parent’s Guide Children’s Media Award, on e of the New York Public Library’s “100 Titles for Reading and Sharing”, and has appeared on 26 state book award lists voted on by children.  Finally, Mrs. Wiles also wrote One Wide Sky that has lullaby music to go with eighty-eight counting words, and is a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. 

Following the outstanding keynote address, teachers were able to choose breakout sessions to attend, focusing on their individual needs and interests to improve their delivery of educational services.  These sessions focused on current research-based strategies and trends in Language Arts and Reading education and the implementation of these strategies through current technological advances.  This allowed teachers opportunities to build upon their plethora of tools used for student instruction.

Overall, the reading conference was a great opportunity for all involved and a wonderful networking and learning experience for participating Washington County teachers.  Receiving the Bob McSpadden Award provides additional evidence of the dedication and determination of our employees here in Washington County to the academic success and educational achievements of all of our students.