The Educational Leadership, Elementary Education and Teaching, and School Librarianship programs hosted the 21st Summer Literacy Institute: Literacy for All on July 24-25. On Thursday 100+ educators from around the Commonwealth heard workshop presenter, Dr. Jarred Amato, co-founder of Project LIT and author of Just Read It! Unlocking the Magic of Independent Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms.
Thursday evening banquet author was Sylvia Liu, author of Near and Deer, Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation, Manatee's Best Friend, and A Morning with Grandpa. Ms. Liu shared insights about the power of the universal and particular story: how it brings people together, creates empathy, and inspires action, and the key role librarians, teachers, and other educators play in unlocking this power.
Friday keynote speaker was Mr. Schu, author of Louder than Hunger, This is a Story, This is a School, Ruthie Rose's Big Idea, and The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life. Mr. Schu discussed how the universal truths found in stories can change us, inspire us, connect us to others, answer our deepest questions, and help us heal and, to the delight of participants, he freely gave away multiple copies of books!
Rounding out the Institute were concurrent sessions including those presented by faculty members in the Department of Education and Counseling Dr. Alecia Blackwood, Dr. Tammy Parlier, Dr. Wendy Snow, and Dr. Dorothy Suskind and Student Success Coordinator, Maria Hamilton.
In keeping with the Institute theme, Literacy for All, Judy Deichman, Coordinator of Library Services at Richmond Public Schools, presented a session, and participants got to tour the Lit Limo!