IRA awards honor contributions to reading

Not only is an IRA Annual Convention a time to feature the literacy profession in a dazzling variety of formats available to attendees—from general sessions with knowledgeable, informative speakers to featured speakers at luncheons, dinners, workshops, roundtables, and presentations (including exhibitors who bring their unique products and perspectives to the assemblage)—but also it is a time for IRA to honor its own.

This year awards honored outstanding contributions relating to service to the profession, teaching, research, children's literature, and media coverage of reading-related issues. Here we spotlight the prestigious William S. Gray Citation of Merit, and Special Service Award, as well as teaching-related awards.

William S. Gray Citation of Merit

Lesley Mandel Morrow was the recipient of the 2009 award, which honors a nationally or internationally known person for outstanding contributions to reading research, theory, practice, the profession, and the International Reading Association.

Morrow is a professor of literacy at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, where she chairs the Department of Learning and Teaching. She began her career as a classroom teacher, became a reading specialist, and received a doctorate from Fordham University in New York City. Her area of research deals with strategies for enhancing early literacy development and the organization and management of language arts programs.

Morrow has more than 300 publications including journal articles, book chapters, monographs, and books. She has received awards from Rutgers for research, teaching, and service, and she was the recipient of IRA's Outstanding Teacher Educator of Reading Award and Fordham University's Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Morrow has served as a principal research investigator for the Center of English Language Arts, National Reading Research Center, and the Center for Early Reading Achievement. Presently she is a coinvestigator for the NYU BELLE Project: "Preparing Disadvantaged Preschoolers for Language and Literacy Success During Pediatric Primary Care."

She has served as a member of IRA's Board of Directors and was president of the Board in 2003-2004. Morrow was elected into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2009, she received the Distinguished Faculty Award from Rutgers Alumni Association.

Special Service Award

Another notable award that honors excellence in the field of literacy is the Special Service Award, given for unusual and distinguished service to IRA.

Rita M. Bean, Professor Emerita, University of Pittsburgh, is the recipient of this year's Special Service Award. Her service to the Association has spanned many years, and she has contributed in many roles. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association from 2002-2006. During that time, she was a member of the Research on Teacher Education Committee and gave many presentations at various regional, national, and international meetings.

Currently, Bean is a member of the advisory board of the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse, supported by IRA and the National Council of Teachers of English. She also serves as chair of the Standards 2010 Committee.

Bean has been an IRA member for more than 40 years, serving in many capacities. She chaired the Commission on the Role of the Reading Specialist, which conducted a national study of reading specialists and resulted in an IRA position statement on the role of the reading specialist. She was president of the Disabled Readers' Special Interest Group at the national and state levels. She has also published in IRA journals and contributed to many monographs published by IRA.

Teaching Awards

IRA at its core believes quality teachers are key to addressing the challenges of spurring continuing reading achievement in schools. Knowledgeable, strategic, adaptive, and reflective teachers do make a difference in student learning. Such teachers reflect honor on the profession and in turn, IRA honors them.

Arbuthnot Award

The Arbuthnot Award is a $1,000 award that honors an outstanding college or university teacher of children's and young adults' literature.

This year's winner is Barbara A. Lehman, a professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University. Lehman teaches graduate courses in children's literature and literacy at the Mansfield Campus. She has served on and chaired numerous book and author award committees including USBBY's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominating committee, the IRA's Arbuthnot Award Committee and the Notable Books for a Global Society Committee, and the Children's Literature Association (ChLA) Article Award Committee.

Lehman was a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa during 2004–2005. Her scholarly interests focus on multicultural and global children's literature and child-centered literary criticism and she has coauthored and coedited several books on the topic.

Eleanor M. Johnson Award

The Eleanor M. Johnson Award recognizes an outstanding elementary classroom teacher of reading/language arts in honor of Eleanor M. Johnson, founder and editor-in-chief of Weekly Reader. The award carries a $1,000 prize.

Steve Peterson is this year's winner. He is a third-grade teacher in the Decorah Community School District in Iowa, and this is his seventh year teaching at the elementary level. Teaching elementary grades is a second career for Peterson. Previously, he taught at the college and community college levels and also worked in northern Wisconsin with Native American youths at risk of becoming high school dropouts.

Peterson holds a master's degree in American studies from the University of Minnesota and one in literacy education from the University of Iowa. He has a bachelor's degree in education and special education from Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, and a bachelor's in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota. In his classroom, the vital links between writing, reading, creativity, and the joy of learning are emphasized and students' work is published on a classroom website.

IRA John Chorlton Manning Public School Service Award

This award, established in 2004, honors the work of John Chorlton Manning by supporting college- and university-based teacher educators who recog-nize the importance of effective preparation of reading teachers and graduate students, professional development, and related research. Recipients re-ceive $10,000.

Denise Johnson, an associate professor of reading education at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, is the 2009 winner.

Johnson has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in reading and language arts methods and children's literature, and she also conducts research on literacy, children's literature, and the integration of technology into preservice and inservice education courses and within elementary classrooms.

Johnson has published articles and book chapters on literacy, children's literature, and technology in IRA publications. She has served as a regional coordinator of the Children's Choices and Teacher's Choices projects. She was named the University Professor of Teaching Excellence by the College of William & Mary and the 2009 recipient of the Virginia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education's Instructional Leadership Award.

IRA Award for Technology and Reading

The IRA Award for Technology and Reading honors educators in grades K–12 who are making an outstanding and innovative contribution to the use of technology in reading education.

Kelly Killorn is this year's grand-prize winner. Killorn began her career in Bosworth, Missouri, where she taught sixth grade for two years. She has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Iowa State University and taught sixth graders at Bueker Middle School in Marshall, Missouri, and at Olson Middle School in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Kelly earned a K–12 reading license from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, followed by a master's in education. Kelly also serves as Olson Middle School's secondary literacy leader, and reading department leader, as well as head of the reading in the content area professional learning community. Kelly wrote the sixth-grade honors reading curriculum for the Bloomington Public School District as well as curricula for Olson Middle School's alternative learning center program for struggling readers.

IRA Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading

The IRA Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award is a $1,000 award supported by Jerry Johns that honors an outstanding college or university teacher of reading methods or reading-related courses at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels.

R. Timothy Rush is this year's winner. In Lafayette, Indiana, he taught reading and writing to Southeast Asian refugees while earning a doctorate in reading education from Purdue University. He taught at Indiana University-Kokomo before joining the University of Wyoming faculty in 1982. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy education, humanities education, linguistics, and culturally responsive education.

Working closely with the tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation, he has helped develop programs for certifying teachers of American Indian children. Rush visits public school classrooms on a weekly basis, modeling effective teaching and learning practices. Rush earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Minnesota and taught elementary and middle level students in Minneapolis and Niagara Falls, New York.

Regie Routman Teacher Recognition Grant

The Regie Routman Teacher Recognition Grant honors an outstanding mainstream, elementary classroom teacher dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of reading and writing across the curriculum in grades K–6. At least 60% of the school's students must be eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch. The $2,500 grant is supported by Regie Routman.

Kristi Hopper, a second-grade ESL teacher at Bel Air Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is this year's winner. Hopper has been a literacy and math leader at her school and is currently working on organizing a research symposium for her second-grade "scientists."

Hopper advocates creating meaningful relationships with the families of students in her classroom and school for the betterment of the school community. She is a past president of Camino Real Council, a local IRA council.

FYI

For more information about these and other IRA recognitions, visit the Awards and Grants section of www.reading.org.

AWARD WINNERS NAMED

Every year, the International Reading Association gives out awards to a variety of researchers, educators and authors for their outstanding work in the field of reading and literacy. Listed below are the award winners for 2009.

Service Awards

WILLIAM S. GRAY CITATION OF MERIT
Lesley Mandel Morrow

SPECIAL SERVICE AWARD
Rita M. Bean

IRA MARYANN MANNING OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD
Julie Agard, Judith Casey, Shirley Choo, Mary Ellen Skidmore, Nea Stewart-Dore

Teacher Awards

ARBUTHNOT AWARD
Barbara A. Lehman

ELEANOR M. JOHNSON AWARD
Steve Peterson

IRA JERRY JOHNS OUTSTANDING TEACHER EDUCATOR IN READING AWARD
R. Timothy Rush

IRA REGIE ROUTMAN TEACHER RECOGNITION GRANT
Kristi Hopper

IRA AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY AND READING
Kelly Killorn

IRA JOHN CHORLTON MANNING PUBLIC SCHOOL SERVICE AWARD
Denise Johnson

Research Awards

ALBERT J. HARRIS AWARD
Maren Aukerman

DINA FEITELSON RESEARCH AWARD
Catherine Compton-Lilly

OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION OF THE YEAR
Jennifer M. Graff

JEANNE S. CHALL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Hyo J. Lim

Writing for Children & Young Adults

PRIMARY FICTION
Alison Randall

PRIMARY NON-FICTION
Jennifer Berne

INTERMEDIATE FICTION
K.A. Nuzum

INTERMEDIATE NON-FICTION
Carlyn Beccia

YOUNG ADULT FICTION
Heidi Ayarbe

YOUNG ADULT NON-FICTION
Moying Li

PAUL A. WITTY SHORT STORY AWARD
Ann Parr

Media Awards

PRINT MEDIA
Susan Jacoby

BROADCAST MEDIA (ADULT)
Steve Crump

IRA awards honor contributions to reading . (June/July 2009). Reading Today, 26(6), 8–9.