Family Literacy Day | ��ɫAV College of Education

September 21, 2024 • Banneker Hall, Morgan State ��ɫAV

This program, co-sponsored by the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), focused on ways that parents and caregivers can capitalize on their home literacy practices to strengthen school-based literacies. In addition, FLD provided parents with knowledge regarding how to advocate for their children, especially when outcomes are not as expected or when their home literacy efforts are undervalued.

12:30 - 1:30 PM: Opening Panel

Opening Panelists: Tyra Johnson, Paula Rubin, Winifred A. Winston, Camilia Whitehead, Brittney Strickland

1:45 - 2:30 PM: Session One

2:45 - 3:30 PM: Session Three

3:45 - 4:30 PM: Session Two

4:30 - 5:00 PM: Concluding Remarks

All sessions are held consecutively, giving visitors the opportunity to visit any session during any of the three time slots.

Baltimore County Public Schools ELA Curriculum: Supporting Literacy at Home — Katie Hernandez | Baltimore County Public Schools

Bridging the Digital Gap: Parents and Gen Alpha — Valerie C. Riggs, EdD | Morgan State ��ɫAV

Building Resilience in Our Children — Rebecca Yenawine & Monalisa Diallo | Teachers Democracy Project

Fostering Emotional Wellness: Practical Strategies for Parents, Caregivers & Children — Leslie A. Anderson, PhD | Morgan State ��ɫAV

Language Matters: Embracing Diversity and Promoting Literacy — Megan-Brette Hamilton, PhD | Speech-Language Pathologist

Navigating Support: How to Know When Your Child Needs More — Koryne C. Nnoli, PhD | Morgan State ��ɫAV

Raising a Reader: Supporting Literacy at Home — Janique Parrott-Gaffney | Literacy Without Limits, LLC

Parents as Partners: What to Know about Reading Instruction — Heather Blackwell | Baltimore City Public Schools

Speech-Language Pathologists: Who We Are & What We Do — Esther Ward | Speech-Language Pathologist

Strategies for Immigrant Families: Supporting Language & Literacy Success — Sandra Gutierrez & Amanda Cataneo, PhD | ��ɫAV of Maryland

Where the Money Resides: A Blueprint Budget Workshop — Riya Gupta & Darren Franklin | Strong Schools Maryland

Session Presenters

Fostering Emotional Wellness: Practical Strategies for Parents, Caregivers & Children

Dr. Anderson is a family scientist, family therapist, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences at Morgan State ��ɫAV. She is also research faculty at Morgan’s National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED).

Her research interests lie at the intersection of Black American families, race and racism, and psychological well-being. She has over a decade of clinical experience providing community, school, and home-based mental/behavioral health services to children and families.

Parents as Partners: What to Know about Reading Instruction

Heather Blackwell is the Director of Literacy for Baltimore City Public Schools. Her thought leadership and focus on reading has been a catalyst for literacy improvement in City Schools.

As a mother to two current City Schools students, one City Schools graduate, and a graduate of City Schools herself, she is dedicated to preparing the children of Baltimore for success in Baltimore and beyond.

Heather is a lifelong learner and attributes her passion for brain-based learning to watching the development of her three sons. She also holds positions in several Baltimore area organizations and is a graduate of Georgetown ��ɫAV and UMBC. She is currently pursuing an advanced degree at Morgan State ��ɫAV.

Where the Money Resides: A Blueprint Budget Workshop

Riya Gupta (she/her) is the Interim Executive Director of Strong Schools Maryland, with a commitment to education, advocacy, and youth development. Her work focuses on analyzing equity within educational funding formulas.

Darren Franklin (He/Him) is a Field Organizer with Strong Schools Maryland. Since 2006, Darren has advocated for youth development and educational equity while mentoring young adults in real estate, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

Strategies for Immigrant Families: Supporting Language & Literacy Success

Sandra Gutíerrez is an experienced instructional leader, professional developer, curriculum designer, and instructional coach. As of September 2024, she serves as a Graduate Assistant for MILE’s Professional Development Pillar.

Amanda Cataneo is MILE’s Program Manager for Professional Development and a proud DLBE enthusiast.

Language Matters: Embracing Diversity and Promoting Literacy

Megan-Brette Hamilton, PhD, CCC-SLP, has been an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist for over 20 years and currently oversees ASHA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, Professional Development, and Continuing Education teams.

Previously, she worked as a qualitative researcher, academic professor, and school-based clinician in New York City K-12 schools. She has published and presented widely on African American English, culturally responsive practices, and effective communication.

Baltimore County Public Schools ELA Curriculum: Supporting Literacy at Home

Bridging the Digital Gap: Parents and Gen Alpha

Speech-Language Pathologists: Who We Are & What We Do

Esther Ward has worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist for 22 years providing individual, group, and classroom-based services for preschool through high school students.

She has facilitated workshops for educators, mentored graduate student clinicians and new Speech-Language Pathologists, and currently facilitates a cohort of teachers pursuing National Board Certification through Morgan State ��ɫAV.

Building Resilience in Our Children

Rebecca Yenawine began work with Teachers Democracy Project as a consultant in 2014 and became Director in 2017. She previously founded and directed a youth-driven social justice media organization called New Lens.

At TDP, Rebecca supports the organization’s vision of creating an education movement driven by teachers and parents while working toward greater educational equity.

Navigating Support: How to Know When Your Child Needs More

Dr. Nnoli is an assistant professor of exceptional education at Morgan State ��ɫAV and founder of Patient Learning Education Support Services LLC.

Her research focuses on inclusive education and leadership, collaboration and assessments, and home-school partnerships. She combines her experience in special education and human services to support individuals with diverse needs.

Raising a Reader: Supporting Literacy at Home

“I have over 1,000 hours of experience providing reading intervention to children with mild to severe reading difficulties and an additional 500+ hours of training in structured literacy and dyslexia with leading literacy experts.”

Performer: Maryland Poet Laureate Lady Brion

”Lady Brion is an international spoken word artist, poetry coach, activist, organizer, and educator. She has been performing since age 12 and in that time has performed across the world including London, Ghana, Zanzibar and many US states. Her educational career includes teaching creative writing at the middle and elementary school level, coaching poetry teams in over 10 institutions for the Louder Than A Bomb poetry program and residencies in over 15 K-12 institutions.

During her time as a competitor in slam competitions including becoming the 2016 National Poetry Slam Champion and the 2017 Southern Fried Regional Slam Champion. From 2015 to the present she has represented Baltimore in a number of other national competitions including the Individual World Poetry Slam and the Women of the World Poetry Slam.

Brion is a recipient of the Open Society Institute Fellowship centered around her project facilitating poetry workshops in prisons and group homes throughout Maryland. She also received the 2017 Salzburg Fellowship for Social Innovators. She received her B.A. in Communications from Howard ��ɫAV and her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the ��ɫAV of Baltimore.

Brion is a board member and manager of 10 teaching artists, dispatching them to teach poetry workshops in middle and high schools in the Greater Baltimore Area for Dew More Baltimore, an art centered non-profit using spoken word as a tool to foster community and civic engagement. She also holds the position of Cultural Curator for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), a grassroots think-tank which advances the public policy interest of Black people, in Baltimore, through: youth leadership development, political advocacy, and autonomous intellectual innovation.

As an independent artist and entrepreneur, she offers artistic consulting, residencies and workshop, keynotes and other speaking engagements and spoken word performances around the world.”