Shenandoah Valley Reading Council

Promoting Literacy in the Shenandoah Valley

About Us!
p. 1
Getting Connected
p. 1
From Our CoPresidents
p. 2
SVRC Literacy Project
p. 3
Family Literacy
p. 4
International Literacy
p. 5
SVRC T-Shirts
p. 6
Call to Serve
p. 6
SVRC Board
p. 7
SPRINGSPIRATION
Registration
p. 8
Legislative Summary
pp. 9-10

Who Can Join?

*Classroom Teachers
*Reading Teachers
*Professors
*Librarians
*Parents
*Administrators
*College Students
*Community Members
*Resource Teachers
*Retired Teachers
*YOU!!!!!!!

Our vision for SVRC is to promote new trends in literature, promote

and sponsor opportunities to learn new, effective strategies, and to
promote and participate in community service activities that advocate
literacy.
We encourage you to join our reading council. Members of SVRC
receive many benefits:
Membership in the Virginia State Reading Association
Reduced registration fees for the VSRA conference
VSRA publication Reading in Virginia
Opportunity to attend local meetings and conferences
sponsored by SVRC

SVRC Activities
Provide professional development workshops and
conferences
Monitor education issues
Publicize best practices
Sponsor literacy projects
Highlight the literacy talents of students
Sponsor the Young Author Celebration
Sponsor International Literacy Projects

Join our council and help promote literacy in the Shenandoah Valley!
http://svreading.weebly.com

Like us on FACEBOOK at Shenandoah Valley Reading Council

Also like the following on FACEBOOK: Read,Write,Think IRA VSRA Edutopia Symbaloo
We are on Twitter! Follow us @Shenvalleyrdg

As I sit here over Spring Break, relaxing and enjoying a book, How to Steal
a Dog by Barbara OConnor, I am thankful for opportunities to explore
literacy and current research at events such as the Virginia State Reading
Conference. By the way, How to Steal a Dog, was found on a vendors
shelf while attending the conference. It is about Georgina Hayes being
homeless, but not hopeless. My heart is totally taken by her spunk, her
honesty, and her pain. Weve all got stories, heartaches, and joys to
share!
After hearing Lester Laminack speak about his focus with writing and his
passion for writing, he reminded us that stories come from imaginations.
Our imaginations, specifically children, fuel curiosities, play, learning, and
stories. He challenged us to think about the question, Where will your
childs stories come from? He encouraged us to reclaim stories and
make a story out of the day. Taking time to observe, describe, and be
present in the day will help children contextualize the day and their world
around them as well as give them stories to tell and write.
Stories are the oldest way to share important news! Stories mean
everything. - Lester Laminack, VSRA Literacy Luncheon, March 2016
Professional development continues to be important as it makes us think
and process learning strategies, literacy, and how to best teach children
to read, write, and think. Conversations with peers and colleagues can
be enriched when attending locally and state sponsored events that
support literacy development. While commitment takes time and energy
in an already jam packed schedule, it is through these experiences and
interactions that as a teacher, I grow and continue to learn as well as ask
questions.
Hoping you will be able to join us for our Springspiration event on April
14th at Waterman Elementary!
Michele Mumaw
Faith Ballew
Co-presidents

Teresa Shank and Lisa Roeschley were awarded a Community Service

Grant at the VSRA conference held in early March. The grant will allow
Teresa and Lisa to purchase age appropriate books and bookshelves to be
gifted to families moving into their new Habitat for Humanity Home. We
currently are waiting for a house dedication to take place in Harrisonburg.
In early February SVRC donated 60 bags to Healthy Families of the Blue
Ridge. This organization is a new outreach for SVRC in order for us to
spread the word promoting reading to your child at an early age. Each bag
contained 3 board books and literature to explain best practices for
early reading and reading aloud to children. Several families attended a
celebration hosted by Healty Families and were gifted the bags.

I wanted to share a project I have been working on for our Family

Literacy. Brenda Belcher works with Healthy Families of the Blue Ridge.
This group helps to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect by
providing regular home visits to at risk families. During the visits
Brenda and her associates work to educate positive parenting, child
development and preparing children to do well in school. They also
provide books and encourage parents to start reading to their children
prenatally.
Our Family Literacy program was able to donate 60 bags, each containing
3 board books and literature/bookmarks to promote read aloud and
reading in the home. On Wednesday February 17 the program had an
open house at the RMH to promote healthy families. Anyone in
attendance was given one of these bags.
From Lisa Roeschley

The Lubuto Library Organization has been providing African

children and youth with books for the last ten years. Shenandoah
Valley Reading Council has been shipping books to support their
libraries for the past six years. Currently, they have four
libraries open with one slated to open in 2017 and one in 2018.
Checkout their new website at www.lubuto.org. You can even
register to receive their newsletter.
Just this week, April East, International Literacy Chair, mailed a
box of books to the Lubuto Library Partners which were donated
and collected at our Green Valley Book Fair event held in
December! While supporting our local business community, we are
are able to make a difference in another part of the world.

Buy your SVRC T-Shirts at our Springspiration Event!

Short Sleeve comes in lime green-$12
Long Sleeve comes in sapphire blue-$15

SVRC is anticipating your interest

in serving on the board
in various committee positions.
If you are interested, please contact any of
the board members listed on page 7!

SVRC
Shenandoah Valley Reading Council
Co-Presidents
Faith Ballew - ballewsf@gmail.com
Michele Mumaw - mmumaw@rockingham.k12.va.us
Recording Secretary
Debbie Pitsenbarger - mulberryhill4@hotmail.com
Treasurer
Sylvia Helmuth - shelmuth@rockingham.k12.va.us
Past President/Nominating
Sandy Proctor - proctorsk@gmail.com

Next Board Meeting...May 23rd at Churchville Elementary

Shenandoah Valley Reading Council is

154 members strong!
Be sure to renew in August!
We hope you will invite
a co-worker or 2 to join our council!

Website http://svreading.weebly.com
Like us on FACEBOOK at Shenandoah Valley Reading Council
Follow us on Twitter @shenvalleyrdg

Shenandoah Valley Reading Council

SPRINGSPIRATION

TED Talks to Inspire Teachers

Thursday, April 14, 2016
Waterman Elementary, Harrisonburg, VA

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
5:30 Registration
5:45-6:00 Welcome
& Business Meeting
With Appetizers
And Drinks

We teachers are passionate about what we do.

Come listen to a few teachers whose passion has led them to
interesting places and exciting ideas here in Virginia and around
the world. Each speaker will give a brief talk about their
passion and whats new and possible in literacy instruction.
TED Talk Speakers
Best Practices in International Literacy Instruction
Tracy Hough

An EMU professor assists a school in a small country in Africa.

6:00-7:00 Ted Speakers
BE PRESENT TO BE PLACED IN A DRAWING
FOR
FREE
ILA MEMBERSHIP
Discover
how
best
practices
improve instruction around the world!
Each speaker will give a
15 minute talk about their
Integrating Reading and Writing into the Social Studies Curriculum
professional passion!
Christine Olewine

7:00-7:15 Question &

Answer

Reading and writing are essential skills--especially social studies. To bring history alive, students will
read a book of their choice to enhance their understanding of the past. The book will culminate in a
final project and presentation to open student's eyes to other historical literature options.

Social Studies NEW Content/Lessons/Books

Michele Mumaw and Martha Reish
Register by
April 6 & well
put your
name in a
drawing for a
free T-shirt!

Take a look into the future while teaching the past. See how new SOLS connect to integrated plans
and look at books that enhance learning.

Growing Readers: We Can't Talk Enough

Kimber Tate
Focus will be on the power of a classroom community that focuses on
read-alouds, book talks, and a passionate example to promote literacy.

Deadline for registration: Monday, April 11, 2016

Please make checks payable to SVRC. Mail registration and checks to: SVRC, c/o Liz
Benbow, 3024 Little Calf Pasture Hwy, Craigsville, VA 24430
Name:______________________________________Email:_______________________
District/School:_______________________________
Phone:____________________________________________
Choose:
_____SVRC Member $5
_____Non-Member $10
Email ebenbow@augusta.k12.va.us with any questions.
(Please go to http://goo.gl/forms/CkY8qkIHIq to register. You may need to hit
control + click.)

Final 2016 Legislative Update

Troilen Seward (troilen@aol.com)
The 2016 Session of the General Assembly began with approximately 200 bills
related to education. In the end, about one-third of the introduced bills actually passed.
For every bill that passed the legislature, the Governor must sign or veto it. It is possible,
therefore, that a bill may be reported as passed, yet may be vetoed after the newsletter is
published. When the legislature returns for the Veto Session on April 20, the legislators
may sustain or override the veto.
Preschool
Preschool has been a topic of interest to VSRA for many years. Several bills were
introduced this year, but only two passed. HB 46 directs the Secretary of Education to
establish a School Readiness Committee with the goal of addressing the development and
alignment of an effective professional development and credentialing system for the early
childhood education workforce in the Commonwealth. HB 47 establishes the MixedDelivery Preschool Services Fund and Grant Program for the purpose of awarding grants
on a competitive basis to urban, suburban, and rural community applicants to field-test
innovative strategies and evidence-based practices that support a robust system of mixeddelivery preschool services in the Commonwealth.
SOL and SOL ASSESSMENTS
HB 381 requires the Board of Education to prescribe alternative means for
children with disabilities who meet criteria established by the Board to demonstrate
achievement of the Standards of Learning. An eligible students IEP team shall make the
determination as to whether an alternative method of administration is appropriate for the
student. HB 241 requires the Board of Education to consider assessments aligned to the
SOL that are structured and formatted in a way that measures the content knowledge of
students who are English language learners and that may be administered to such students
as Board of Education-approved alternatives to SOL end-of-course English reading
assessments. HB 436 requires the Department of Education to award recovery credit to
any student in grades three through eight who fails a Standards of Learning assessment in
English, reading or math, receives remediation, and subsequently retakes and passes such
an assessment, including any such student who subsequently retakes such as assessment
on an expedited basis. SB 427 prohibits the Board of Education from including in its
calculation of the passage rate of an SOL assessment, for the purposes of state
accountability, any student whose parent has decided to not have his child take such SOL
assessment, unless such exclusion would result in the schools not meeting any required
state or federal participation rate.
Teacher Performance and Licensure
HB 524 requires data, collected by or for the Department of Education or the
local school board or made available to and able to be used by the local school board to
judge the performance or quality of a teacher, maintained in a teachers personnel file or
otherwise, to be confidential in most instances.

There were several bills introduced having to do with career and technical
education licenses: SB 573, HB 279, HB 682, and HB 261.
HB 842 requires the Board of Education regulations governing teacher licensure
to require every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license to complete
awareness training, provided by the Department of Education, on the indicators of
dyslexia and the evidence-based interventions and accommodations for dyslexia.
Safety, Security and Discipline
HB 1279 requires every public school to hold a fire drill at least twice during the
first 20 school days of each school session and at least two additional fire drills during the
remainder of the school session. The bill also requires every public school to hold a lockdown drill at least twice during the first 20 days of each school session and at least two
additional lock-down drills during the remainder of the school session. HB 1234
authorizes a school security officer to carry a firearm in the performance of his duties if
he is a retired law-enforcement officer who meets firearms training standards for active
law enforcement officers. HB 487 relieves school resource officers employed pursuant to
the School Resource Officer Grants Program from the obligation to enforce school board
rules and codes of student conduct as a condition of their employment.
Graduation Requirements
HB 895 and SB 336 are bills that came from the work of the Innovation
Committee. These bills will change the graduation requirements as they are today by
removing existing provisions related to standard and advance studies diplomas and
standard and verified units of credit. The Board of Education, in establishing high school
graduation requirements, will be required to (i) develop and implement, in consultation
with stakeholders representing elementary and secondary education, higher education,
and business and industry in the Commonwealth and including parents, policymakers,
and community leaders in the Commonwealth, a Profile of a Virginia Graduate that
identifies the knowledge and skills that students should attain during high school in order
to be successful contributors to the economy of the Commonwealth; (ii) emphasize the
development of core skills in the early years of high school; and (iii) establish and require
students to follow in the later years of high school alternative paths toward college and
career readiness that include internships, externships, and credentialing.
Standards of Accreditation
HB 368 authorizes the Board of Education to review the accreditation status of a
school once every two years or every three years. The bill requires any school that
receives a multiyear accreditation status other than full accreditation to be covered by a
Board-approved multiyear corrective action plan for the duration of the period of
accreditation. The bill also provides that when the Board of Education determines that a
corrective action plan submitted by a local school board is not sufficient to enable all
schools within the division to achieve full accreditation, the Board may return the plan to
the local school board with directions to submit an amended plan pursuant to Board
guidance. Finally, the bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report to
the Board on the accreditation status of all school divisions and schools.

10