The Nevada Reading Excellence Act (NREA) partnership will host an awards banquet April 19 from 6 to 9 p.m. at UNLV's Stan Fulton Building, Room 130.
The ceremony will honor the 31 Southern Nevada teachers and administrators whose grant applications were recommended for funding as part of a three-year, $26 million grant awarded to the Nevada State Department of Education and a statewide partnership of educators. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Elementary and Secondary Education, which funded programs in just 13 states last year.
The NREA partnership, established to help the state's kindergarten through third-grade students become better readers and writers, is led by Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack McLaughlin, literacy faculty from UNLV and UNR, and representatives from the University and Community College System of Nevada's chancellor's office, Gov. Kenny Guinn's office, and the Nevada State Education Association.
NREA supports extensive professional development in early literacy instruction for teachers. The funding will provide additional literacy specialists at NREA schools. It will also fund course work for teachers to earn master's degrees and state endorsements as literacy specialists or English as a Second Language specialists.
"We expect to grow a generation of literacy leaders in the state, support family literacy programs, and extend tutoring for children who need additional help with literacy instruction," the NREA grant application states.
Across the state, 52 elementary schools received funding. Schools receiving grant funding in the southern region include:
-- Clark County: Bell, Booker, Bowler, Bracken, Cortez, Craig, Dearing, Diskin, Earl, Fitzgerald, Gragson, Harris, Herron, Hewetson, Madison, Martinez, McCall, McWilliams, Moore, Rowe, Sunrise, Tate, Taylor, Thomas, Twin Lakes, and Williams.
-- Lincoln County: Panaca.
-- Nye County: Johnson, Manse, Round Mountain, and Tonapah.
Guests at the awards banquet will include Gov. Guinn and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack McLaughlin. The keynote speaker is Ann Lieberman, senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Lieberman's nationally recognized research has enriched understanding of teacher development and practice in the context of school reform.
For further information, call the NREA office at 895-3989.
