The Northwest Montana Reading Council
presents
The Back-to-School
Literacy Conference
August 14, 2024
Flathead High School
8:15am to 3:30pm
$40 Full Conference | Free with a Student ID
Bookworks in Whitefish will attend with books from the sessions and other educational resources for sale.
2024 Reading Conference Information
Featuring
Allan Wolf
Keynote Address
time 8:30-10:20am
Booklist says, “Allan Wolf makes reading and writing poetry cool.” His many picture books, poetry collections, and young adult novels celebrate his love of research, history, science, and poetry. He is a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, two-time winner of the North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, and recipient of New York’s Bank Street College Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry. Wolf believes in the healing powers of poetry recitation and has committed to memory nearly a thousand poems.
Keynote Information
METAPHORS BE WITH YOU: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet’s Life Join author, performance poet, and speaker, Allan Wolf, as he takes us on a meaningful, memorable (and very funny) tour of a poet’s brain, and discover what it has to teach us about the power of language in our classrooms and in our lives.
Breakout Sessions
POETRY POWER
Best Practices for the Classroom
Join our keynote speaker to celebrate the Four R’s of Poetry: Reading, Writing, Responding, and Rejuvenation. This fun and interactive session will leave teachers with hands on tools they can use immediately. KEYNOTE BREAKOUT SESSIONS FOR K-5, 6-8, AND 9-12
The Northwest Montana Reading Council is comprised of a group of current and retired Montana educators from the greater Kalispell Area, including Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Marion. As a collective, we believe in supporting educators through empowerment and teacher-supported professional development.
The council meets several times a year to plan and prepare for the annual conference. If you are interested in joining the council, we are always looking for more enthusiastic educators who love to volunteer their time to bring the best local literacy conference to Northwest Montana educators.
Director: Kelli Higgins
Treasurer: Megan Koppes
Secretary: Leslie DiMaio
Presenter Committee: Dani Burtsfield and Kim Wakefield
Conference Logistics: Sue Brown, Clayton Mauritzen, Betsy Kohnstamm, Aarica Phillips, Michele Paine, Sherri Nissen, Joe Fisher, Alicia Benson, Allie Mitchell, Alison Kreiss, Liz Sykora, and Kami Heinz.
Calendar of Events
- June 19 – Presenter Support Workshop II
- Fall Council Meeting: at Flathead High School – Room 112, 4:15-5:15pm
Awards
Each year at the conference, the council recognizes certain Educators, who have been nominated by their peers, as outstanding contributors to the growth and development of Northwest Montana Students and Teachers.
The following are the awards celebrated each year:
Educator of the Year
Administrator of the Year
Support Educator of the Year
Friend of Education
Contact the NWMT Reading Council
Director: Kelli Higgins
Treasurer: Megan Koppes
Secretary: Leslie DiMaio
Presenter Committee: Dani Burtsfield and Kim Wakefield
