The International Reading Association will honor an outstanding mainstream, elementary classroom teacher dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of reading and writing, across the curriculum in real world contexts in grades K–6 (ages 5–12). At least 60% of the school's students must be eligible for free or reduced lunch. The grant may not be used for purchase of commercial programs.

The US$2,500 award is supported by a grant from Regie Routman.

IRA Regie Routman Teacher Recognition Grant Application

2010

Leah Haile

Haile is a teacher at Propel Montour Charter School in Pittsburgh. Now in her third year at Propel, Haile teaches language arts and reading to fourth-grade students and serves on Propel’s district-wide Writing Committee, which seeks to improve writing instruction across all content areas. She has partnered with the Landmark School, a Boston, Massachusetts-based institution that serves students with language-based disabilities, to learn how to enhance a language-based learning classroom. It is this partnership, along with the encouragement of administrators at Propel that prompted her to apply for the Routman grant in order to improve instruction in her own classroom as well as throughout the school.

 

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Haile taught sixth grade in Phoenix, Arizona for three years before coming to Propel Montour.