Sharon Soetaert Attends Conference at Emporia State

2011 Mar 1

Sharon Soetaert, substitute teacher at Lowther South in Emporia, Kan., was among nearly 100 educators from across Kansas who gathered to hear an award-winning children's author and illustrator and a nationally known reading expert at a recent conference at Emporia State University.

George Ancona is an award-winning photographer and author of books for young readers and Cynthia Rodriguez is an expert in children's literacy for English-speaking and non-English speaking students. Both were among the featured presenters at the 13th annual Kansas Reading Recovery® and Early Literacy Conference on Feb. 28. The conference theme was "Weaving Literacy & Culture: Emphasizing Literacy Success for English Language Learners."

Rodriguez gave the keynote address, "Making It Easy to Learn: Early Literacy & ELL's." She is an assistant professor in the University of North Texas Dallas. She was a trainer for Reading Recovery and Descubriendo la Lectura from 2005 to 2010. Her previous roles include Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura teacher leader and bilingual/ESL classroom teacher. Rodríguez-Eagle's research interests include early intervention for bilingual students and English language learners literacy development.

Ancona gave the luncheon address. He has had over 100 books published, including books he has illustrated for other authors. He grew up in Coney Island, N.Y., where he became interested in his father's hobby of photography. He later went to art school and then worked in advertising before turning to children's books. Ancona, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., has photographed and written about everything from horses to helicopters. A Mexican American, he is particularly interested in writing about his Mexican heritage and life in different cultures.

The Reading Recovery conference, held in ESU's Memorial Union, was sponsored by the Jones Institute for Educational Excellence.

-ESU-