IRA Honor Council form

OKLAHOMA AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
 

The highest state award given to local councils is the

Award of Excellence!  

The ORA desires that each local council in the state of Oklahoma achieve this goal in 2008-2009! Regional Directors should work with the councils in their district to encourage and support the application process for Oklahoma Award of Excellence.  

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLYING FOR THIS AWARD IS FEBRUARY 1, 2009 SEND ALL MATERIALS TO YOUR REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO IS YOUR AWARD OF EXCELLENCE CHAIRMAN

Checklist and Information for Award of Excellence

Contact:

The Regional Directors for the Oklahoma Reading Association

ADMINISTRATORS AWARD
2008-2009

The Oklahoma Reading Association seeks to recognize administrators who

• Put students first,
• Stress basic reading skills at all levels,
• Get both sides of an issue,
• Support and encourage students and teachers,
• Do not ask of another colleague what he/she wouldn’t do,
• Always strive to improve,
• Are professional in attitude, dress, and words,
• Always try to be positive,
• Are role models,
• Are good stewards of school facilities,
• Are honest, dedicated, and flexible,
• Are active in the community,
• Encourage ORA membership, and attendance at reading conferences.  

This is an opportunity for councils to recognize one of their district’s outstanding administrators in reading education. Administrators are the instructional leader for the school campus. Send nominations to the award coordinator.

Pamela Hamman
2442 Edgewood Drive
Enid, OK 73135
home: 580.233.4674
work: 580.233.0801
E-Mail: Phamman@putnamcityschools.org
E-Mail: pkhamman@suddenlink.net

PARENTS AND READING AWARD
2008-2009

The purpose of this award is to recognize councils for their outstanding service in encouraging parents to read to their children. Let ORA know what your council is doing to encourage parents to read to their children. Consider seeking additional funding for your project from local or area businesses

Some of the projects councils have completed are:

• Councils give new parents paperback books by well-known authors and brochures with suggested reading for different age levels in a bag. These are given to new parents at the hospital.
• Paperback books and a rattle were wrapped up with a diaper and were given to expectant parents at a local exposition or festival.
• Book baskets were provided and refilled at a local doctor’s office.
• If you have a mall close by, you could set up a booth for parents.

ORA COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

The purpose of the Community Service Award is to recognize councils for their outstanding services to their communities and to literacy. Past recipients of this award include

Osage Reading Council

Tulsa County Reading Council

Northwest Reading Council

Lakeland Reading Council

Cherokee Reading Council


A council may wish to develop a portfolio of activities or items relating to their projects. This approach gives a council the opportunity to select their best items for inclusion and assist in the application process.

Items that can be included in the portfolio are as follows:

• Pictures
• Newspaper Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Audiotape (10 minutes)
• Videotapes (10 minutes or less)
• Brochures
• Handouts
• Correspondence

We encourage you to submit a portfolio of your community project. This is an opportunity for your council to be recognized for its commitment and creative endeavors for literacy in the community.

Entries must be postmarked by February 1 and should be sent to the Celebrate Literacy Award Coordinator


Application for Community Projects and Service Award

Dora Fuqua
P.O. Box 581
Canton, Ok 73724
home: 580.886.3226
work: 580.885.2251
E-Mail: fuquad@canton.k12.us

DR. RICHARD P. WILLIAMS
READING SPECIALIST SCHOLARSHIP

Oklahoma Reading Association (ORA) is pleased to announce continuation of a scholarship program for deserving educators who are pursuing an Oklahoma Standard Reading Specialist Certificate. This $500 scholarship will be granted to an educator who meets the qualification specified below. The applicant must:

• Hold current valid Standard Oklahoma Teaching Certificate.
• Desire to earn an Oklahoma Standard Reading Specialist Certificate.
• Be eligible for graduate study in reading at a state university and be able to provide proof of such eligibility.
• Be a member of ORA and a local reading council.
• Be recommended by three professionals (public school or higher education) who know of the applicant’s ability to complete a graduate program and/or instructional performance.
• Submit a brief autobiography that includes personal and professional goals and establishes need for this scholarship.
• Previous scholarship recipients are NOT eligible.
  

The PRESIDENT’S CUP
Increase in Membership  

The President’s Cup Guidelines
Goals to Increase Membership

Earn Golden Book Pin, Silver Book Pin, or Bronze Pin

Councils with less than 15 ORA members:

• Achieve minimum of 15 ORA members, earn Bronze Book Pin.
• Achieve minimum of 16 ORA members, earn Silver Book Pin.
• Achieve minimum of 17 ORA members, earn Gold Book Pin.

Councils with 15 to 99 ORA members:

• Increase membership by 20%, earn Bronze Book Pin.
• Increase membership by 25%, earn Silver Book Pin.
• Increase membership by 30%, earn Gold Book Pin.

Councils with 100+ ORA members:

• Add 20 ORA members, earn Bronze Book Pin.
• Add 25 ORA members, earn Bronze Book Pin.
• Add 30 ORA members, earn Bronze Book Pin.

The president of the council and the membership director each receive a pin when the council meets the above criteria.

Membership Committee Chair
Dawn Everett
101 N. Elm
P.O. Box 780
Seiling, OK 73663
Home: 580-922-3634
work: 580-922-7381
fax: 580-922-7081
deverett@seiling.k12.ok.us
dcjeverett@pldi.net

Also, teachers may create a Teachers as Reader Book Group and receive a grant of $250 to buy books to read and discuss.

What are Teachers as Readers and how do you facilitate the group?

Contact:

Chairman
To Be Announced

ESSAY CONTEST FOR STUDENTS

ORA is sponsoring an essay contest for students in grades 9 - 12. This year's theme is

"Dear Author."

Students should select someone who has influenced them as readers--perhaps a teacher, a parent or other family member, a friend, or even a character from a book. Students may determine the specific content of the essay but should include why the significance reading has had in their lives.

Essays will be judged in two divisions: 9th - 10th grade and 11th - 12th grade.

20 TH ANNUAL OKLAHOMA CELEBRATION OF READING
Coming to YOUR Schools

AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING
LITERACY INSTRUCTION BY A BEGINNING TEACHER

In Respectful Memory of Dr. Jimmie Russell

Award Description
 

Dr. Jimmie Russell 1950-2002

Dr. Jimmie Russell was a professor of education at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) and was an active member of the Oklahoma Higher Education Reading Council. Her dedication to helping children was evident in her work with preservice teachers, her enthusiastic participation in professional organizations, and her everyday life. Dr. Pam Robinson, Teacher Education Division Chair at OBU, wrote, “ ’Hey, I have an idea!’ and ‘We can do....’ were two of Jimmie's key phrases and two of the many things I miss hearing from her. She was always coming up with ideas on how to better her classes or the teacher education program and they were always good ideas.”

The members of OHERC have chosen to honor Dr. Jimmie Russell by continuing her legacy of caring and advocating for children’s literacy development throughout the state of Oklahoma.

OHERC

The Oklahoma Higher Education Reading Council is made up of literacy education faculty members from Oklahoma colleges and universities and others involved in the education of preservice literacy teachers. The purposes of OHERC include promoting mutual understanding and cooperative work among Oklahoma reading teacher educators, and disseminating knowledge helpful in the solution of problems related to reading instruction. We are a council of the Oklahoma Reading Association and the International Reading Association.

Award Criteria

This award will be given to a teacher in his/her first three years of teaching. Those characteristics that will be considered are the teacher’s:

• focus on individual student’s literacy needs,
• use of multiple forms of literacy assessment,
• instruction that is related to assessment,
• integration of literacy across the curriculum,
• sense of purposeful enjoyment that permeates his/her work with children, and
• commitment to the teaching profession

Award Honors

The honoree will receive a plaque and a $100 gift certificate for the purchase of books for his/her classroom. The award will be announced in the recipient’s local newspaper and will be given at the beginning of the next school year.

Contact Information:

Mary Swanson
350600 East 840 Road
Stroud, OK 74079
home: 918.368.2285
work: 918.449.6598

PURPOSE:

The Oklahoma Reading Association annually recognizes influences in education in Oklahoma by a local council significantly involved with advocacy for literacy. This year's deadline is June 1st.

ELIGIBILITY:

Any local council that has made major contributions to advocacy in Oklahoma in three of the following areas is eligible to apply for this award:

• Educating members about advocacy skills and legislative issues.
• Creating an action plan and council network to advocate for educational and legislative issues.
• Activating efforts to influence and respond to state public policy.

CRITERIA:

For further information contact our website http://www.oklahomareadingassociation.org/ or the state legislative co-chairs. Mail nomination form to one of the award co-chairs.

EXEMPLARY READING PROGRAM AWARD

The Exemplary Reading Program Award recognizes outstanding reading and language arts programs at all grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school). Its purpose is to call the public’s attention to outstanding programs in schools throughout Canada and the United States. Each participating state and province can choose one winning school a year.

All public, private, and parochial schools in the United States and Canada are eligible for the award, provided the state or province in which the school is located has an Exemplary Reading Program Award Committee currently in place to judge program applications from that state or province. At least one faculty or staff member of the school must be a current IRA member.

Applications must be postmarked no later than November 15 and received at IRA Headquarters no later than November 22. Headquarters will then forward applications to the state/provincial Exemplary Reading Program Award Committees for review.

Application for the Exemplary Reading Program Award

The Oklahoma Reading Association coordinator for this award is

Stephan E. Sargent
Northeastern State University
College of Education
3100 East New Orleans Street
Work # 164, Building “C”
Broken Arrow, OK 74014
home: 918-747-4211
work: 918-449-6513
fax: 918-449-6146
E-Mail: stephan_sargent@yahoo.com
E-Mail: sargents@nsuok.edu

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT

The Oklahoma Reading Association international project is to make a donation to the Nassau Reading Council for their work in promoting literacy in Guatemala. The International Projects coordinator is

Patty Puroff
2914 East 82 nd Place
Tulsa , OK 74137
918-494-9802
E-Mail: patty.puroff@cox.net

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION PROJECT

Why should I use newspapers in my classroom?

What does the research say?

A 2005 study by Stephan Earl Sargent, Ed.D. (College of Education, Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma), examined differences in attitudes toward reading among 3rd, 4th and 5th graders using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey.

All students were tested on reading attitudes in the fall of 2004 and then tested again in April 2005. Sargent's findings were dramatic. Students who used newspapers regularly throughout the year with the Newspapers in Education Program had a mean score that was eight percent higher than the control group, while the control group's scores had a slight drop. Sargent's conclusion:

Regular use of the Newspapers in Education Program positively impacts the reading attitudes of students in the third, fourth and fifth-grades.

A 2002 study by Dan Sullivan School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota) measured the impact of NIE programs in 22 cities across the country. In each city the study compared schools that used NIE newspapers with those that did not, using the local or state reading test. The findings concluded:

• On average, students who use the newspaper in school scored 10 percent better on standardized reading tests than students who did not.
• Students had as much as a 29 percent increase in test scores in the newspaper group in schools with a high percentage of low-income, non-English speaking or minority students.
• In all cases, the more newspapers that were used throughout the year, the greater the gain in test scores.

Source: Downloaded from http://nieonline.com/detroit/details.cfm?feature=services on July 20, 2006

ORA Newspapers in Education
Michelle Cunningham
307 Dogwood Lane
Enid, OK 73703
E-Mail: nobluph@yahoo.com

Friend of Reading Award

Originally written by Patty Puroff for Tulsa County, the Friend of Reading Award was adopted by the Oklahoma Reading Association in 1993. The purpose of this award is to recognize various organizations, institutions, businesses, and individuals who have been instrumental in assisting the Oklahoma Reading Association in their goal of increasing literacy and instilling a love of reading.

Application for the Friend of Reading Award.
Deadline: February 1, 2009.
Send your nominations to: