Leah Smith Berkman, sponsored by Lettie Albright

I am pleased to introduce our newest CLA member and my new niece-in-law. Leah says, "I have been a lifelong lover of children's literature! In college I first focused on an English degree and when it came time to decide where I was going with it I knew the route I wanted had to involve reading and talking about books - and what better kind than adolescent lit! I have worked to become a K-12 certified Language Arts teacher in North Carolina and currently work with wonderful 5th graders at Voyager Academy in Durham. I believe that my love of literature is one of the ways I am able to connect with my students as I devour the new popular reads and have those excited countdowns for the next in a series being released. Adolescent lit has such purity of characters and easily digestible life lessons and it also has all the action and adventure of an adult read." Please join me in welcoming Leah to CLA!

New CLA Member Sponsored by Claudia Haag

Let me introduce one of our newest CLA members to the group! Her name is Saba Vlach and she is currently a second grade teacher in Arlington, Texas. She has just completed her Master’s in Reading with a focus on culturally conscious literature and reader response from Texas Woman’s University. I was honored to get to know Saba first as a student in one of my graduate courses on diversity and have since been able to work with her as she completed her thesis here at TWU. For those of you who were able to attend the 2010 Literacy and the Arts CLA Workshop, you might recall all the wonderful student artistic responses on the walls. Several of those items came from Saba’s second graders. Saba is currently on the panel to present at the 2011 CLA Workshop and will be sharing her current research with African-American 2nd-graders and African-American picture books. She looks forward to joining the group and has also graciously volunteered to be part of our Outreach Committee for 2011. Please join me in welcoming her to the group!

Sally F. Heineke

I am delighted to introduce my colleague Sally Heineke as a new member of the Children’s Literature Assembly! Sally serves as an assistant professor of reading for the College of Education at Sam Houston State University in Texas. Following 20 plus years as a public educator in K/12 settings, she now teaches undergraduate pre-service teachers with an emphasis on integrating children’s literature into literacy methods courses. Her research interests center on the use of language in social contexts to build comprehension and spans the use of language within the discourse of professional development as well as classroom discourse. Welcome, Sally! You will be a wonderful addition to our organization! Joan Williams

 

Anita Gonzalez, Sponsored by Pat Scharer

Anita writes, “My love for books began at the age of 3 thanks to my parents, who shared stories with me night after night. From Alice to Aslan to Amelia, hours of reading eventually led to a career in education. With a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, I became a teacher with a love for introducing children to literature and an excitement for fostering a passion for reading in my students. I spent 14 years teaching primary school children, with 8 of those years in the wonderful world of kindergarten. Curiosity and a need for helping struggling children learn to read, I worked for a master’s degree in reading and became a reading specialist, a literacy coach and later, an adjunct lecturer in preservice teacher education. My curiosities and passions for literacy have brought me to The Ohio State University to pursue a doctorate degree in Reading and Literacy in Early and Middle Childhood. Currently, I teach undergraduate preservice educators and am learning about Reading Recovery through coursework and implementation with students. As I gain knowledge surrounding the many aspects of literacy and focus on reading difficulties, I also learn about children’s literature and think about ways to use these wonderful resources of knowledge with children during intervention and in the classroom.” Please join Pat in welcoming Anita to CLA