CLA Board of Director Candidate Statements for 2022-2024 Term

All candidates responded to the following prompt:

"The Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a professional community of children’s literature enthusiasts who advocate the centrality of literature in children’s academic and personal lives. We believe every teacher needs a wide and extensive knowledge base of books published for children and young adults. With this in mind, please create a statement for the ballot (200-word maximum) that speaks to how you envision working with and for the Assembly as a Board Member. Please include any relevant information within your statement."

Click the candidates' names below to read their statements. You will be asked to vote for 3 candidates.

Elizabeth Bemiss, Assistant Professor, University of West Florida

Given the current era of school accountability, coupled with the impact of the pandemic on student learning, advocacy for children’s literature is more important than ever. CLA plays a central role in such advocacy by promoting children’s literature as a field of learning, research, and classroom application. These tenets are also key in my work as a teacher educator; my participation with CLA has elevated both my teaching and scholarship in tremendous ways. I have had the great privilege of serving on CLA’s Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award Committee from 2018-2021, which has allowed me to connect young readers and future teachers alike with quality, relevant, and timely literature. My work on this committee further enhanced my own appreciation of the ever-lasting impact children’s literature can have in shaping young minds. The professional development experiences offered by CLA and the support this organization provides for research, publications, and leadership in the field of children’s literature is invaluable to its members. I would be honored to serve as a board member on CLA and work with other children’s literature enthusiasts to support the goals of CLA. 

Nadine Bryce, Associate Professor, Hunter College, City University of New York

I am excited to join the Children’s Literature Assembly as a Board Member because I am impassioned about building a professional community of educators committed to children’s literacy advocacy, promoting the joy of reading quality literature in every classroom, and the love of books for each and every child. The trouble is not all children can find themselves in books we make available to them. Rudine Sims Bishop, over 30 years ago, called for more diverse books for all children. Books continue to serve as “mirrors” for children in majority communities, but remain woefully inadequate as “mirrors” for children from communities of color. Bishop’s call for more diverse books is a beacon of light for me, a critical literacy teacher educator from an underrepresented group. As a Board member, I would work tirelessly with others to create a welcoming professional space that advances exciting programs to exchange ideas, promote collaborative explorations and scholarly inquiry into children’s literature, while advocating for diverse books for all. Given how central children’s literature is to teachers’ work, and to children’s lives, the work of CLA is enormously important for advancing this great mission.

Mary Lee Hahn, Retired 4th/5th Grade Teacher, Poet, and Community Volunteer

I bring to CLA a classroom teacher’s career-long passion for the importance of children’s literature in the curriculum. As a CLA board member, I will work to keep the classroom perspective in the forefront. I came to Ohio in 1985 to attend The Ohio State University, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Children’s Literature with Dr. Charlotte Huck as my advisor. When I graduated, she encouraged me to apply for jobs in Ohio where I could be sure that my newly acquired skills teaching with a literature-based approach would be supported by the influence of OSU. I was hired by Dublin City Schools and taught fourth and fifth grades for 35 years. I've been active in CLA since 2008, when Monica Edinger encouraged me to apply to be on the Notable Children's Literature in the Language Arts committee. I went on to serve as the committee chair in 2010. I honored the legacy of Dr. Huck’s influence on my career by serving on NCTE's Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children 2017-2019. I have served CLA by helping set up for the breakfast, establishing a website and social media presence, and currently, by promoting CLA on its Facebook page.

Sophie M. Ladd, Assistant Professor, University of Nevada Las Vegas

In my current role as an Assistant Professor of children’s literature and literacy instruction at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, I believe that literature can bring unity and change lives. This passion stems from my work as a children’s and young adult literature scholar, advocate, and enthusiast in and out of the classroom. As a future CLA board member, I envision my work focusing on reaching communities that traditionally lack access to the wonderful world of literature. My university students and I have partnered with community-based organizations to provide thousands of hours of service-learning, supporting access to children’s literature and literacy learning. Through this work and my current role as a member of the Orbis Pictus Committee, I have helped children and adults realize: the joy of reading is contagious once the right book is discovered. Serving as a CLA board member, I would aim to promote digital learning opportunities through our national platforms encouraging family and community dialog around the value and pleasure of reading children’s and young adult literature. As a long-time member of the NCTE community, I appreciate this opportunity to collaborate with the CLA board working to give voice to teachers and students.

Andrea M. Page (Hunkpapa Lakota) Children's Author and Educator

I believe in the power of literature. Currently a retired educator, I write books for children. But while I was a middle school teacher, I strived to have a print-rich classroom which allowed children to recognize themselves in books, to be inspired by positive role models, and to study writing techniques of authors. I explored diverse literature with my students. As a Native American, I did not see Indigenous role models or relate to Native characters in books until recently. New contemporary stories have stirred emotions I didn’t realize I had, and this motivates me to advocate for Native literature. As a reader and author, I continue to be a lifelong learner. Understanding the culture/values of 600+ Tribes is complex. Tapping resources like the interactive website, Native Knowledge 360, is beneficial to a broader understanding of Native people. I agree with author Linda Sue Park’s TED Talk titled “Can a Children’s Book Change the World?” - books “have superpowers” because they support academics, stimulate imaginations, engage critical thinking in readers, and build confident individuals. Becoming a CLA Board Member would allow me to bring awareness of Native perspectives and help teachers/librarians select books that are a natural fit for their students. 

Susan Polos, Middle School Librarian, Greenwich (CT) Country Day School

I bring extensive experience in collaborative work with organizations devoted to promoting literature in the lives of children. This experience includes representing different divisions of the American Library Association as a board member of the United States Board on Books for Young People (the U.S. section of the International Board on Books for Young People). I've served on evaluation committees for books for young people, including most recently the Pura Belpré and Coretta Scott King juries, and I currently chair the Newbery 100th Anniversary Celebration Task Force. I've worked with the Children's Book Council on many lists, including Home Library lists. As a school librarian, I work directly with students and with classroom teachers, and I have a deep commitment and history of advocacy for school librarians as conduits for literature to children. At the same time, I know that no work can be successful without partnerships; I am a founding member of a state committee that promotes the essential partnership of public youth librarians with school librarians. I served as an elementary librarian in a dual language Title I school for almost 20 years, then a high school librarian in the same district for three years, and now I am a middle school librarian. I actively work with teachers and community members to ensure that literature is always embedded in learning. I bring a perspective, experience and expertise to the board that I believe will strengthen the CLA professional community by broadening it. Thank you for your consideration.

Marla K. Robertson, Assistant Professor, Utah State University

I love books! My kids will tell you that we had bookcases in almost every room in our house when they were growing up, and they all now have bookshelves of books in their own homes. I teach the Teaching with Children’s Literature and Informational Texts graduate level course at my university, and I love helping teachers share their passion for literature and learn more about how to use the fabulous array of books available to help their students learn to be engaged, informed readers and writers. In my work with preservice teachers, I have noticed a lack of knowledge about current children’s literature in general, particularly about high-interest informational texts. This led me to conduct and publish research on nonfiction books that are primarily used to learn, but also to help kids get excited about reading and learning about their world. I’ve found over the years that if teachers aren’t familiar with current children’s literature, they won’t introduce it to their students. Thus, my goal on the CLA Board would be to assist teachers in finding ways to get more books in the hands of kids, focusing on the plethora of existing and upcoming nonfiction books for children.

Sara K. Sterner, Assistant Professor, Humboldt State University

I am an assistant professor of education and Liberal Studies Elementary Education Program Leader in my third year at Humboldt State University. My work as a teacher educator concentrates on antiracist pedagogical practices, elementary literacy and social studies education, and the promotion of inclusive children’s and adolescent literature. Guiding preservice elementary teachers to understand how dominant reading experiences shape their literacy practices to more fully embrace inclusive texts that are beneficial to all readers is a central theme of my scholarship and teaching. These commitments are born out of my fourteen years as a K-6 teacher, a closely held reader identity, and a lifelong passion for children’s literature. In my work, I seek to productively disrupt the normalizing discourses of whiteness in literature for young people, promote anti-bias oriented social studies teaching, and guide preservice teachers to racial consciousness and enactment of socially just practices in their classrooms. I envision bringing these experiences, along with my systems thinking approach and organizational skills, to my service as a member of the board. Having previously served on the CLA Student Committee and been a recipient of the CLA Research Award, it would be an honor to serve.

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Please submit your ballot by Friday October 22nd at 5 pm EST

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