Letter from the Interim President

LETTER FROM INTERIM PRESIDENT

Dear MRA Members,

Looking out at the fall leaves that just keep falling, especially with the Nor´easter we experienced, reminds me that often catalysts drive change. In our case, as with most associations, the catalyst has been the pandemic. It has been a challenge for all of us as we learned tech skills we never knew existed, became thrilled as we relied on the vaccine to stop the craziness we are all living in, then the realization that the spread is slowing, but not stopping —and there we find the MRA dilemma. As you know through email, the MRA board, with a lot of thought and sadness, canceled the spring conference. We simply could not take the risk of causing an outbreak of what we all know could be a fatal virus. So, like the leaves on the trees we have been driven to change and exciting changes they are!

The MRA mission is to “promote literacy for all learners through professional development, research, publications, and advocacy.” We are striving to stand by that mission. Our volunteer editors, Patricia Crain de Galarce and Valerie Shinas, who are overloaded with their own professional workload, have put together this wonderful volume in which other professionals have given time to submit fantastic articles. Our reviewers have taken the time to read and accept these articles. Our Professional Development Committee, with chair Adam Ulenski, is planning to offer PD courses on such topics as racial equity, the science of reading, writing, and hopefully, more on dyslexia. We are in the discussion stages of offering other Zoom events this spring. Our local councils have been busy doing the same. Everyone has been working beyond the Zoom lens!

We hope that the challenges you have faced in the past year have become easier, and as always, MRA is working to keep you current in all literacy practices.

Nancy Witherell Interim President