Reflecting on Baltimore: NCTE's 109th Annual Convention

REFLECTING ON BALTIMORE NCTE'S 109TH ANNUAL CONVENTION

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND NOVEMBER 21-24, 2019

With more than 8,000 teachers and educators from all over the nation, the 2019 NCTE Annual Convention was a great success.

We would like to thank our amazing Program Chair and 2020 NCTE President, Leah Zuidema, for her vision and commitment to the idea we all joined together and celebrated in November—Spirited Inquiry.

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Let's dare to wonder, to be bold and creative in our curiosity.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20

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What I love about books is that they speak to all of us at different times and in different ways. So we came together again to tell a new story, not just about the past but about being a survivor in the present.

With an early start Wednesday evening, the Secondary Section leaders and Freedom Writers Diary author, Erin Gruwell, led a wonderful discussion on the power of writing and how it transforms lives. We had the pleasure of experiencing a spoken word performance from Baltimore native, A'niya Taylor (pictured top middle) from the DewMore Baltimore Youth Poetry Team.

Afterward, Gruwell graciously chatted with attendees and signed copies of her book.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 The first official day went exceptionally well with 15 preconvention workshops on topics ranging from practicing mindfulness in the classroom to teaching media literacy in the era of "fake news."

Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize winning author of

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, led a

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We can’t confront poverty without confronting housing.

presentation on the American housing crisis and how it plays an essential role in nationwide poverty.

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Teachers are the pillars of our democracy.

OPENING SESSION

Our opening session keynote speaker was Star Trek actor, author, and activist, George Takei who talked about his childhood, his family and what it meant to live the immigrant experience. NCTE member Jason Griffith moderated the conversation focusing on Takei's graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy.

section get-togethers We ended the day socializing with delicious food at our respective Section Get-Togethers with keynote speakers Outstanding Elementary Educator in the English Language Arts Award recipient Vivian Vasquez (Elementary, pictured top left), Torrey Maldonado (Middle, pictured top right) and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (Secondary, pictured right).

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22

first-time attendees welcome Bright and early on Friday morning, we kicked off the day with coffee, pastries, and good conversation at the First-Time Attendees Welcome. We heard from Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick (pictured bottom right), Program Chair Leah Zuidema, and the NCTE Community Ambassadors, who led the conversation on how to have your best Convention experience.

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When children know you love them, you can teach them anything.

–Tonya Bolden

general session The General Session featuring the coauthors of Dark Sky Rising, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Tonya Bolden attracted many attendees. Past NCTE President, Jocelyn A. Chadwick (pictured bottom right) introduced both Gates and Bolden. Gates joined the conversation by video and New York Times bestselling author Andrea Davis Pinkney led the conversation where both authors talked about the power of story.

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You don’t have to look like the text to teach the text. You just have to be a good teacher.

–Henry Louis Gates Jr.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT We grabbed lunch at the Middle Level Luncheon with keynote speaker and YA author Ibi Zoboi (pictured top left) and also at the ELATE Luncheon featuring New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell (pictured at center, bottom right).

ALL ATTENDEE EVENT The All Attendee Event served as an opportunity to be inspired and uplifted by a conversation celebrating teachers and literature—and we were! Cuban American author Meg Medina moderated a wonderful panel including (L–R) Brittany Luby, Celia Pérez, and Lilliam Rivera.

CULTURAL CELEBRATION Hosted by the Black and Latinx Caucuses, the Cultural Celebration concluded our Friday evening with spoken word poetry, a live drum performance, and the greatest way of bridging communities—dancing!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23

ALAN BREAKFAST Saturday morning opened up with Meg Medina, (pictured left), author of the 2019 Newbery Medal winner Merci Suรกrez Changes Gears, who served as the keynote speaker at the ALAN Breakfast along with author John Green (pictured first to left). Green accepted the 2019 ALAN Award for his "outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature."

GENERAL SESSION

Day three of the Convention brought many good things including a heartfelt conversation with Tommy Orange, author of There There.

2019 NCTE Vice President Alfredo Celedรณn Lujรกn led an audiencedriven Q&A conversation, where Orange elaborated on the relevance of exposing children to literature written by authors of color.

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Change is painful for everyone. We have a very diverse country, but we need to have a way to teach diverse books and value authors of color.

CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS LUNCHEON

The Children's Book Awards Luncheon is one of our favorite events at the Annual Convention because it provides the opportunity for attendees to talk with some of their favorite authors of children's literature. The 2019 recipient of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children, Jonathan Auxier, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children recipients, Sandra Neil Wallace and Bryan Collier, all shared a heartfelt message about the power of books. Next came the announcement of the 2020 award-winning titles.

2020 AWARD WINNERS Charlotte Huck Award Room on Our Rock Written by Kate and Jol Temple Illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton (Kane Miller)

Orbis Pictus Award A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation Written by Barry Wittenstein Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (Holiday House)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE ASSEMBLY BREAKFAST We were fortunate enough to be blessed by YA author and illustrator of Soñadores / Dreamers Yuyi Morales on Sunday at the CLA Breakfast. Morales spoke powerfully on the inspiration behind her groundbreaking children's book, which in many ways was an autobiographical tale about her journey to the United States from Mexico. Afterward, she participated in a meet and greet with attendees, which also included a book signing.

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As long as I was telling myself that this story shouldn’t be told, I was also telling children their stories shouldn’t be told.

AFFILIATE BREAKFAST The Affiliate Roundtable Breakfast was a great time to honor affiliate leaders and NCTE members with awards for excellence, leadership, development, membership growth, recruitment of teachers of color, intellectual freedom, multicultural programs, and publications. Both NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick and NCTE Vice President Alfredo Celedรณn Lujรกn spoke on the importance of affiliate groups within the Council.

AWARD RECIPIENTS NCTE Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Awards Erika Bruening (National) Youngstown State University English Festival (Affiliate) NCTE Leadership Development Awards A.J. Ricker (OCTELA) Kristen Fickes (PCTELA) Kent D. Williamson Affiliate Membership Awards Affiliates from Arizona, Central California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Yanaguana Affiliate Newsletter of Excellence Awards The English Pub (ACTELA), Scribbles ‘n Bits (GCTE), Update (MATELA), NEATE News (NEATE), NJCTE News (NJCTE), Ohio Voices (OCTELA), Chalkboard (OCTE), Texas Voices (TCTELA), The ELAborator (WHACTE), and WCTE Update (WCTE).

Affiliate Website of Excellence Awards ICTE (Indiana), ICTE (Iowa), MCTE, NJCTE, NYSEC, OCTELA, OCTE, TCTELA, VATE, and WVCTE

Affiliate Journal of Excellence Awards English Practice Journal (BCTELA), Statement (CLAS), Florida English Journal (FCTE), Language Arts Journal of Michigan (MCTE), OJELA (OCTELA), English in Texas (TCTELA), and Utah English Journal (UCTE) Affiliate Multicultural Program Awards OCTELA NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Awards GCTE and NELAC NCTE Student Affiliate Excellence Awards Kennesaw State University, GA (2nd year), Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO (7th year), and Michigan State University, MI (3rd year) NCTE Affiliate Excellence Awards GCTE (17th year), NJCTE (7th year), OCTELA (12th year), VATE (11th year), and WVCTE (2nd year)

NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT BRUNCH The National Writing Project has intersected with NCTE for many years. The content strand and brunch are current highlights of the Annual Convention. NWP colleagues Mary Buckelew, Janice Ewing, and National Writing Project Executive Director Elyse Eidman-Aadahl joined together to celebrate the connections between publications, teachers’ reflections, collaborations, and participation in action research.

GENERAL SESSION & PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS On the final day of the 2019 Convention, we were on hand to witness an exciting moment: the passing of the presidential torch from 2019 NCTE President, Franki Sibberson, to the 2020 NCTE President, Leah Zuidema, followed by an emotional conversation between Educated author Tara Westover and 2020 NCTE Vice President Valerie Kinloch.

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History was the first thing that made me aware that there were different points of view.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 ALAN WORKSHOP Books, books, and more books! Many of us stayed in Baltimore the Monday after the Convention because of the ALAN workshop. It was worth the stay because we were privileged to listen to the author of The Bridge Home, Padma Venkatraman, talk about the importance of bridging communities across the world through literature. As shown in these photos, attendees went back to their schools and classrooms with a dynamic selection of children's and YA books.

2019 CONFERENCE ON ENGLISH LEADERSHIP The Conference on English Leadership (CEL) also remained in town for their 51st Annual Convention, November 24–26. CEL members—principals, literacy coaches, supervisors, teachers, and teacher educators—gathered to discuss the ways in which literacy leaders can create opportunities for greater impact within their schools, classrooms, and communities.

Their keynote speakers included Dana Stachowiak, Kimberly Parker (pictured center, right), and Jarred Amato.

THINGS WE HOPE YOU DIDN'T MISS...

THE EXHIBIT HALL Attendees couldn't wait to get their hands on all the books and resources in the Exhibit Hall but waited patiently for that first day of opening. We also received a special visit from Baltimore's Mayor, Bernard Young (pictured top left), who waited with NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick to welcome hundreds of attendees into the Exhibit Hall!

NCTE AWARDS PRESENTATIONS Every year, we celebrate the recipients of NCTE’s highest honors as they receive their awards. To learn more about NCTE awards visit http://www2.ncte.org/awards/

AWARD RECIPIENTS Distinguished Service Award

Leadership Award for People with Disabilities

Ernest Morrell

Stephanie Kerschbaum

2018–2019 Early Career Educators of Color Leadership Awards

LGBTQ+ Leadership and Advocacy Award

Erin L. Berry-McCrea, Andy Chen, Sarah Cole, Janelle Jennings-Alexander, America Moreno Jimenez, and Kia Turner

2019–2020 Early Career Educators of Color Leadership Awards Brianna Burnette, Quanisha Charles, Alesha Gayle, Daniel Christian Hoilett, Reuben Howard, and Erika Johnson

David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English Nicole Mirra

Advancement of People of Color Leadership Award David Kirkland

Mollie Blackburn

James R. Squire Award Kathleen Blake Yancey

George Orwell Award Michael P. Lynch

NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award Claudette Brassil

Latinx Caucus Award: Excelencia in Teaching Mario Rosado and Carmela Valdez

NCTE CENTRAL The coolest place to get all of your NCTE gear, books, T-shirts, and so much more!

BUILD YOUR

ÂŽ STACK

Located in the Exhibit Hall, the Build Your StackÂŽ stage provided 20-minute sessions featuring authors and educators talking about their favorite books and how to use them in the classroom.

COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS We are so grateful for our NCTE Community Ambassadors (Lisa Castillo, Christina Nosek, Lee Rutherford, Lindsay Schneider, Shawn Towner, Jessica Hunter, Jeremy Hyler, and Michelle Rankins) who played a vital role in this year's Convention by helping attendees feel welcome, sharing advice, handing out special stickers, and fueling everyone with free snacks!

We are beyond grateful to have had this learning experience with you in Baltimore. We hope to see you in Denver, Colorado, November 19–22, for the 2020 NCTE Annual Convention!

www.convention.ncte.org