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Judy Kelly (West Burlington, IA)
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Ruby Latif (Springfield, IL)
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Kaitlyn Lilly (Bettendorf, IA)
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Jessica Moore (Macomb, IL)
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Rachel Moore (Coal Valley, IL)
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Art Remington (Macomb, IL)
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Michele Smith (Moline, IL)
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Melissa Fredericks (Davenport, IA)
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Grad Students in Reading Program Receive Close to $22K Worth of Educational Grants

December 18, 2014

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MACOMB, IL — Western Illinois University Department of Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) graduate students in Professor Sara Simonson's "Leadership in Reading" course (RDG 588) have recently been awarded several grants, valued close to $22,000. According to Simonson, students (some of whom are now Western alumni) enrolled in her Spring 2014 RDG 588 course were instructed to write two grant applications each, and a few were awarded the grants based on their applications.

"A couple of my students, Jessica Moore and Michele Smith, each received both grants they wrote applications for," Simonson added. "I am proud of all of these students' accomplishments and thrilled with the volume of literacy materials and educational tools provided for their classrooms through grants and foundations."

Individuals who received grants (to be used for Fall 2014 and after) include:

  • Judy Kelly (West Burlington, IA), a graduate student in Western's master of science in reading program, received $420.15 from Donors Choose for her project, "Reading and Writing Partners." Kelly is a second-grade teacher at West Central Elementary in Biggsville (IL), and she will use the award to purchase writing genre texts for students to use as a model to improve their writing skills.
  • Ruby Latif (Springfield, IL), a graduate (2014) of Western's master of science in reading program, received an Elmo TT 12i Interactive Document Camera for her project, "Interactive Learning" via Donors Choose. Latif is a high school English teacher at Southeast High School (Springfield, IL), and she will use the camera for shared reading, students' work, exemplary work and modeling instruction.
  • Kaitlyn Lilly (Bettendorf, IA), a graduate student in Western's master of science in reading program, received $6,991 from the Edward White PTA Foundation for her project "Nonfiction, Author Study, and Genre Study Books for Grades 3-6." Lilly is a fifth-grade teacher in the North Scott School District (Bettendorf, IA). She will use the grant to purchase an array of high-quality literature and informational texts at increasingly higher levels of difficulty. Students will use these materials to make cross-curricular connections, increase knowledge about various topics and interests and strengthen strategic knowledge for both fiction and nonfiction texts during independent reading, literature discussion groups and whole-group reading.
  • Jessica Moore (Macomb, IL), graduate student in Western's master of science in reading program, received $3,500 from ING/American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance for her project, "Promoting Literacy by Engaging Healthy Minds and Healthy Bodies." Moore is a fourth-grade teacher in the Galesburg School District, and she will use the grant funds to create a running club, which will incorporate nutritional materials and books related to being fit. Moore also received $492.90 through Donors Choose for her project, "Reading and Writing: Adventures in the Common Core." Moore will use those funds for new nonfiction materials in her school's reading and math centers.
  • Rachel Moore (Coal Valley, IL), a graduate student in Western's master of science in reading program, received $1,416.95 from the Moline Public Schools Foundation for her project, "Raising the Bar in Kindergarten: Making Nonfiction Books Accessible to Our Youngest Readers." Moore is a kindergarten teacher at Benjamin Franklin Elementary (Moline, IL), and she will use the grant to purchase four different multiple copy sets of nonfiction, for a total of 240-leveled readers.
  • Art Remington (Macomb, IL) a graduate (2014) of Western's master of science in reading program, received $1,000 from KHQA-TV's "One Class at a Time" program. Remington is a seventh- and eighth-grade language arts teacher at West Prairie Middle School (Colchester, IL), and he will use the grant funds to purchase sets of high quality literature as he aligns curriculum to support the common core state standards.
  • Michele Smith (Moline, IL), a graduate (2014) of Western's master of science in reading program, received $987 from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for her project "Upping the Ante for My Striving Readers." Smith is a fourth-grade teacher at Bowlesburg Elementary (East Moline, IL), and she will use the grant funds to purchase trade books for her classroom library. Smith also received $400 from Wal-Mart to purchase educational board games for use with kindergarten and fourth-grade students as they develop social skills of taking turns, listening and good sportsmanship.
  • Melissa Fredericks (Davenport, IA) a graduate student in Western's master of science in reading program, received $6,018.80 from the Edward White PTA Foundation for her project "Guided Reading Book Sets." Fredericks is a first-grade teacher in the North Scott School District (Bettendorf, IA), and she will use the grant to purchase sets of guided reading books, increasing the range of books available in the school's book room.

For more information, contact Simonson at (309) 298-2510 or via email at SD-Simonson@wiu.edu.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing