Sheri Vasinda

CHAPTER AFFILIATE

Sheri Vasinda Chair, 2019-2020

On behalf of the Oklahoma Literacy Association Board, I hope this issue of The Oklahoma Reader finds you well and recovering from the exhaustion of the pivot to emergency teaching. We hope you take some well-deserved rest and take time to read the thoughtful articles within this issue. Teachers in Oklahoma and around the world responded to our pandemic crisis with epic care and heroic efforts to connect with students and families in so many creative ways from phone calls, emails, and video conferences, to pick-ups, parades, and serenades. Teachers rallied in valiant ways to care for the physical, emotional, and academic needs of our students in a context none of us imagined.

During this time, our Facebook page turned into a great resource sharing space and appreciate all the contributions and conversations. The generous outpouring of concern from some of our national literacy leaders, authors, and illustrators who held virtual office hours, webinars, lunch doodles, virtual story times, and created resources to support teachers, students, families, and caregivers was astounding. Publishers and commercial resource providers responded in kind by opening up subscriptions, services, and apps through the end of the school year and many, now, through the end of summer. We may have been physically distant, but I argue that we were not and are not socially distant.

Now, as we begin to reopen our nation and state, our hearts and souls grieve as we face a continuing crisis and tragedy of racial and ethnic inequities and violence. We, and our students, are reading the world through camera lenses that capture injustices. These are not new problems, but perhaps our response can be new. This is not the time to wish we were “back to normal.” Perhaps we can lean into our social networks that may be stronger now and more generous now because of the pandemic and start to have difficult conversations about persistent problems. Perhaps these conversations can turn into action where we hold each other accountable. Perhaps this time will be different, and we will take action, make change, and hold each other accountable with a generous and charitable spirit.

We are living in a time of great uncertainty. We don’t know how we will open school, and we don’t know what the new academic year brings. What we do know is that we are not alone; we are not socially distant; we can make a new normal. Knowing that we have colleagues from our campuses, in our professional organizations, and in our social media circles means we do not have to do any of this alone. Encourage your colleagues who do incredible work for equity and literacy to share their stories in our journal. Share your story, too. Please watch our website and Facebook page for opportunities to engage in some critical conversations that we hope will result. Together we are stronger. Together we are smarter. Together we can make change.

Oklahoma Literacy Association Chair, 2019-2020