+ Apply Now: 2012 Prize Innovations in Reading

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If you are part of a school, library, museum, business, website, or other organization that is doing something truly unique and innovative to help foster a love of reading – or if you know someone who is – 

You might be a perfect candidate for  the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize!

To see a list of past Innovations in Reading Prize winners, and to download the 2012 application, please visit the National Book Award website at http://www.nationalbook.org/innovations_in_reading.html

Here are some reasons to apply:

• It’s free!  There’s no entry fee.
• It’s easy!  Just fill out the application, write a short essay, and solicit one or two reference letters (depending on if you’re self-nominating or nominating someone else) from people familiar with your work.
• You could win money!  Winners receive $2500 each to put toward their programs.
• The National Book Association will  tell the world about you!  They’ll publicise your program via their website , press releases, eNewsletter, and Facebook and Twitter feeds.
• They will fly you to New York City!  As part of the prize, winners receive an all-expenses paid trip to New York to attend a special luncheon at the Ford Foundation, where they will present their work to funders and other people in the field, as well as the National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street.
• There’s plenty of time!  The postmark deadline for application materials is February 21, 2012.

The foundation wants you to know that this is sponsored by a generous grant from Levenger.

Orton-Gillingham tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Three Days of Poetry This October in Manhattan

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The Academy of American Poets is holding their Poets Forum on October 20-22, 2011 in New York City.  You may purchase tickets online at www.poets.org/poetsforum or by calling 212-274-0343.

The Poets Forum gives this most intimate of art form as a public context in which it can shine.  [--Mark Wunderlich]

The Pass price is $120 (before September 15, $95).  A limited number of Saturday-only tickets for the discussion sessions are available for $60.

Poets Reading or Participating in Discussions

• Victor Hernandez-Cruz
• Mark Doty
• Rita Dove
• Marilyn Hacker
• Lyn Hejinian
• Juan Felipe Herrera
• Edwards Hirsch
• Naomi Shihab Nye
• Ron Padgett
• Carl Phillips
• Marie Ponsot
• Kay Ryan
• Gerald Stern
• Anne Waldman
• Susan Howe
• Yusef Komunyakaa
• Joan Larkin
• Carol Muske-Dukes
• Gabrielle Calvocoressi
• Matthew Dickman
• Cathy Park Hong
• Ilya Kaminsky
• Cate Marvin
• Matthew Rohrer
• Evie Shockley
• Tracy K Smith
• “and many others”

The Poets Forum is a true assembly of minds, a market-place of ideas.  You’ll find no posturing or pronouncements, no peacocks or princesses — just poetry poetry poetry.  [--Rita Dove]

Thursday, October 20 

7:00 pm:  Readings.  An unforgettable evening — on one stage – by some of the most acclaimed poets of our day reading from their latest work.  New York  University Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

Friday October 21

10:30 am and 2:00 pm: Poetry Walking Tours through the same streets traveled by Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, EE Cummings, Langston Hughes and countless others.  The tours will explore the literary history of Harlem, the West Village, the Museum of Modern Art and SoHo.

12:30 pm and 2:00 pm: Discussions on Contemporary Poetry: two panels of younger poets examine imaginative uses of language and how ideas of place and travel operate in their work and in the poems that have influenced them.  New York University School of Law, Greenberg Lounge.

“Vision & Innovation in Contemporary Poetry” with Hong, Kaminsky and Shockley

“Regional Aesthetics & Sensibility in American Poems” with Calvocoressi, Dickman and Marvin

3:30 pm: The Blaney Lecture on the topic of poetry and telepathy, by Susan Howe, winner of the 2011 Bollingen Prize in poetry.  NYU School of Law, Greenberg Lounge.

7:00 pm: Poets Awards Ceremony to celebrate recipients of the premier collection of awards for poetry in the United States.  Reception will follow.  The New School, Tishman Auditorium.

Saturday October 22

10 am to 4 pm: NYU School of Law Tishman Auditorium 

• “Getting Away With It: Risk in Poems” with Hacker, Komunyakaa, Stern
• “Humans & Others” with Herrera, Ryan and Waldman
• “Breaking the Line, Breaking the Narrative” with Dove, Olds and Padgett
• “Suffering Through Joy” with Doty, Hirsch and Shihab Nye
• “Repetition and Refrain” with Hernandez Cruz, Phillips and Ponsot. 

 Says Edward Hirsch:

Poetry is an ancient art that is ever new, which is proved each fall by the Poets Forum — a splendid gathering, a rambunctious and diverse chorus, a forum of spirited solitaries.  As John Berryman put it, “We are on each other’s hands / who care.”

The Academy of American Poets is located at 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.  Ph: 212-274-0343; FAX 212-274-9427.

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com.

+ Three Girls Win Google’s Science Prize

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 Information posted by Andrew Howley,  at National Geographic News:

On the night of July 11, 2011, at Google headquarters, some of the world’s smartest people gathered and most of them aren’t even old enough to drive.

It was the grand finale of the inaugural Google Science Fair.

The 15 teenage finalists impressed and inspired even the highly esteemed panel of judges, which included Google leaders, a Nobel Laureate, and three National Geographic Explorers: T.H. Culhane, Tierney Thys, and Spencer Wells.

Young scientists from around the world had been asked to submit projects online that were creative, innovative, and relevant to the world today.

Out of  more than 7500 entries, from more than 10,000 young scientists, in more than 90 countries, these 15 had risen to the top. As impressive as all the entries were, there still had to be winners. And these winners, as announced on the official Google Blog are:

• Lauren Hodge in the 13-14 age group. Lauren studied the effect of different marinades on the level of potentially harmful carcinogens in grilled chicken.
• Naomi Shah in the 15-16 age group. Naomi endeavored to prove that making changes to indoor environments that improve indoor air quality can reduce people’s reliance on asthma medications.
• Shree Bose in the 17-18 age group. Shree discovered a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs.

Shree Bose’s  work is groundbreaking and potentially lifesaving .  It won the Grand Prize, consisting of a $50,000 scholarship, a National Geographic Expeditions trip to the Galápagos Islands and an internship at CERN.

Lauren Hodge and Naomi Shah both received $25,000 scholarships and internships at Google and LEGO.

This awards ceremony followed months of research, experiments, preliminary fairs, and a day of the young scientists presenting their projects for the judges, friends, family, and others who simply came to see the show.

Now that it’s over — all you young scientists between the ages of 13 and 18, start planning your project for next year!

(See T.H. Culhane’s own recent science experiment, using a can of soda to light an LED lightbulb.)

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Become a Library of Congress Teacher-in-Residence

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Since 2000, the Library of Congress has recruited teachers to work with Educational Outreach staff to help teachers incorporate the Library’s collection of over 16 million digitized primary sources into high quality instruction.

Previous Teachers-in-Residence have led professional development workshops for teachers in Washington DC and across the United States. 

They represented the Library at various conferences and meetings; they developed teaching materials and lessons that use the Library’s digitized primary sources for national distribution.

The successful Teacher-in-Residence candidate will be innovative and collaborative, and be fluent with the Library’s digitized primary sources, having used them in instruction.  They will have a history of leadership and staff development.

The Library will give preference to applicants who teach students considered to be underserved based on ethnicity, socio-economic status or geography.

The selected teacher will participate in this program via an intergovernmental personnel agreement between the Library and his or her home school district.  The Library will reimburse the district for salary and benefits paid to the teacher during the school year, and will release the Teacher-in-Residence for all district holidays and vacations.

The teacher will receive a $1500 monthly housing stipend if he or she teaches outside of the Washington DC metropolitan area.  The Library cannot pay for travel or moving expenses.

In addition to assisting Educational Outreach staff, the Teacher-in-Residence will undertake a project to benefit his or her home school or district to be implemented the following academic year.  This might be a workshop on teaching with primary sources for fellow teachers, a unit using Library of Congress primary sources, or some other product or activity using Library of Congress digitized primary sources that can be implemented with students or fellow teachers.

As part of the application process, teachers should propose projects that were designed in collaboration with teacher colleagues and have the support of appropriate school and or district administrators.

To be considered, teachers should fill out and submit an application with an accompanying letter from a school or district administrator authorized to approve an intergovernmental personnel agreement.

Applications will be evaluated based on the teacher’s creativity and willingness to contribute to the educational community as evidenced by his or her description of past activities and recommendation letter, and the feasibility and value of the project proposed by the applicant.

Deadline is June 17th.  Please direct any questions to edoutreach@loc.gov.  Library of Congress Web site is http://www.loc.gov.

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ 7th Grade Scholarship Opportunity

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Outstanding 7th graders from families with financial need are invited to apply for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Young Scholars Program.

The program seeks students who stand out in their schools and communities for their academic excellence, determination, leadership and public service.

Successful applicants receive educational advising and financial support for educational opportunities during high school, and the possibility of a college scholarship.

Applications are due April 25, 2011.

Eligibility

1. Will you enter 8th grade in the fall of 2011?
2. Do you earn grades of all or mostly As in school, with no Cs or below in the past two years in your academic subjects?*
3. Does your family have significant unmet financial need?**
4. Do you reside in the United States or a US Territory and plan to attend a high school in the US.

* Exception: Students with unique talents or documented learning differences.

** The average family income of the previous class of Young Scholars was approximately $27,000.  They take into consideration high cost of living expenses in some areas, extraordinary medical expenses, number of dependents in college, number of dependents, and high cost of supporting children with learning differences.

The Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2011 Young Scholars Program application period.  They welcome online applications, or you may print a hard copy of the application, complete it by hand, and mail it in.  Please, they say, don’t mix methods of application between online and handwritten.

Timeline

• January/February: The Foundation makes application materials available to all 7th-grade students on the Foundation’s Website. 
• Last Monday in April:  All applications to the Young Scholars Program must be received by April 25, 2011.
• May-September:  The Foundation’s expert panel and program managers review all applications.
• November: The Foundation notifies all applicants in writing if they have been selected as a Young Scholar.  The Foundation’s educational advisers contact all new Young Scholars and arrange an in-person visit to the Scholar’s home.

http://www.jkcf.org/scholarships/young-scholars-program/how-to-apply/

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Ohio 2011 LDA Scholarship Available

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The Learning Disability Association (LDA) of Ohio is offering a scholarship to recognize and assist individuals with learning disabilities who want to pursue a post secondary education are job training.

Two scholarships of $400.00 will be awarded to qualified individuals who reside in the state of Ohio.  The award may be used for tuition.

Eligibility 

• Applicant must have attended or be presently attending a private, parochial or public school in Ohio.
• Applicant must be identified as a person with a learning disability.

Selection Criteria

Scholarship awards are competitive.  A committee made up of the Executive Board of LDA of Ohio will select the recipients.  Notification of selection will be mailed to the recipients by June 5, 2011.  Selection of scholarship recipients will be based on the following factors:

1. Academic achievement
2. Demonstration of leadership, initiative and responsibility
3. Consistent effort toward self-improvement
4. Potential for benefiting from the additional education or job training

Deadline

Applications must be post-marked by April 30, 2011.  Please send to LDA of Ohio, 4115 S. Charleston Pike, Springfield OH 45502.

Application Must Include

1. The Application form
2. Three letters of recommendation from references listed on the application.  One of the letters must be written by a person who can verify that the applicant has been identified as a person with a learning disability (counselor, principal, LD teacher)
3. Transcript of grades

More information, phone LDA of Ohio (937) 325-1923   e-mail: memartin@glasscity.net  (President Mary Ellen Martin)

The application asks for name, birthday, address, phone, best time to reach you, email address and applicant’s school.  It asks you to respond to these questions:

• How does your learning disability affect your learning?
• What steps do you take to make sure you gain the information you need to learn?
• Please list the name of the school(s) you are planning to attend.
• Please tell about your career goals. (What are you planning to study?)
• Please list school and community activities.
• Please list three references. (Enclose letters of recommendation)

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021 or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize 2011

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Every year, the National Book Foundation awards a number of prizes of up to $2,500 each to individuals and institutions — or partnerships between the two — that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.

In addition to promoting the best of American literature through the National Book Awards , the Foundation also seeks to expand the audience for literature in America.

Through the Innovations in Reading Prizes, those individuals and institutions that use particularly innovative methods to generate excitement and a passionate engagement with books and literature will be rewarded for their creativity and leadership.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE

All US citizens and American institutions.  Here are some examples of targeted individuals and organizations.

• Teachers
• Librarians
• After-school and community center staff
• Military personnel
• Other motivated members of the community
• Schools
• Libraries
• After-school and community-based programs
• Non-profits (e.g. literacy centers, museums, historical societies)
• Companies that specialize in technology development and implementation
• US-based corporations and their employees
• Military bases

WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR

They are seeking applications from individuals and institutions that demonstrate a commitment to literature and the promotion of reading for its own sake.  Important criteria are creativity, risk-taking, and a visionary quality, as well as a novel way of presenting books and literature. 

Note: They are less interested in programs where the focus is on basic literacy and the pedagogy of reading.

WHAT THE PRIZE CONSISTS OF

• $2,500 cash award to an individual or institution; in the case of a partnership between an individual and an institution,  the former will receive $2,500 and the latter $1,000.
• Multi-media coverage of the winning programs via the National Book Foundation’s website, press releases, monthly eNewsletter, and Facebook and Twitter feeds
• Acknowledgement of the winning programs in the National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner program, read by thousands of professionals in the literary and publishing communities.

APPLICATION PROCESS

If you’re nominating someone else

• Notify the nominee that you are nominating them for the Innovations in Reading Prize
• Complete the nomination section of the Innovations in Reading application and mail to the address given, or email it as an attachment.
• Your nomination counts as one reference.  Arrange for one additional reference letter written by an individual familiar with the work of the nominee to be sent directly to the Foundation’s office.  (The additional reference letter should be sent under separate cover; or emailed as an attachment.

If you’re self-nominating

• Complete the self-nomination section of the application and mail or email, as above.
• Arrange for two reference letters written by individuals familiar with your work to be sent directly to the Foundation’s office, or email as attachments.

Evaluation

The Foundation’s Executive Director and Director of Programs will review all applications.  Those considered most promising will be passed on to a committee of the Foundation’s board members, who will then make final selections.

Winners will be announced on May 4, 2011.   

Deadline: Application must be postmarked by February 11, 2011. 

Application: http://www.nationalbook.org/innovations_in_reading_2011_static.PDF

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com