Community Involvement 2016-2017
Connector. If asked to describe my role in community involvement, connector is the word I would choose. Interdisciplinary, intergenerational, intercultural, intersections and of connection and connectedness need a connector to introduce people from disparate backgrounds to each other in ways that facilitate the quick finding of common ground and that provide reasons to remain connected in working toward common goals.
2016-2017 Social Media Coordinator ChLA Conference: Summer/Fall 2016 and Spring 2017
At the request of conference organizers Jenifer Schneider and Melanie Griffin, who represented the USF College of Education and the USF Library Special Collections respectively, I created a Facebook page for the 2017 Children's Literature Association Conference that Melanie introduced at the 2016 conference. Throughout the summer of 2016, I posted the call for papers and attendees, teasers about the conference and about Tampa, and noted important deadline dates.
At one point, the Facebook page became an important lifeline. On April Fool's Day, cybergremlins struck the ChLA website and caused consternation among presenters who were crowding the registration deadline. A couple of them alerted us the FB page. I posted a notice that we had been alerted to the problem and that it was being addressed, and then I passed the information along to Jenifer, Melanie, and Kenneth Kidd, ChLA president. Our organization administrators could not be reached because their emails were generated from the website. Thankfully, Kenneth Kidd reached one of them by phone. An email was sent out with information about an extended deadline, which I copied and pasted to the FB page.
Beginning in May, Sherridon Sweeney and Stephanie Mills joined me in posting pictures of some of the Tampa sites. At the beginning of June, as soon as the official program was released, I went through the panels looking for themes. Each day I posted a grouping of 10-12 panels and, in the comments below, posted related places-to-go and things-to-do in the area. Want to know what we did at the Conference itself? That will have to wait for next year's review! |
Event Planner and Host for College Program Series Speaker at Eckerd College: April 2017
Each Fall and Spring semester, Eckerd College solicits proposals to bring speakers to the College on topics relating to a theme. The 2016-2017 theme, "Imagining Justice," was selected to help prepare the College to transition to a new capstone course by the same name. The Fall list of CPS events included authors, scholars, government officials, and others speaking on environmental justice, economic justice, and similar topics. I knew Dr. Jenifer Schneider had just returned from a Fulbright experience in Ireland where she worked with faculty in the School of Lifelong Learning and Education at the Waterford Institute of Technology to develop goals for expanding adult learning models and that her work also involved the Irish culture of storytelling.
I contacted Jenifer, who agreed to speak in April, and, with the help of Dr. Amanda Hagood, executive director for the Program for Experienced Learners at Eckerd College, I made the necessary reservations and wrote the proposal (see attached). I also contacted the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC) to ask if they would be willing to co-sponsor (in terms of support) the event, and they agreed. The proposal was accepted in November.
Once the proposal was accepted, Amanda, who was on the College Computer Committee, asked the members if they would be interested in meeting with Jenifer about (1) the iPad initiative work she has done with pre-service teachers, (2) the digital collection of methods for analyzing multimodal texts she has curated, and (3) the open-access, e-textbook she wrote and edited, which was published this past year. At the suggestion of the ASPEC director, I contacted the faculty person charged with helping faculty and students obtain scholarships, including the Fulbright, to ask if they would be interested in meeting with Jenifer while she was on campus. I created a budget for the luncheon and evening event. Part of the funding came from CPS and part from PEL. I created flyers, handouts, and other promotional material and distributed them across campus. I also contacted a few PEL alumni who are involved in literacy programs, and they brought material to the evening event. I also compiled a list of literacy organizations in Pinellas County for the table.
About twelve professors and staff in instructional technology attended the luncheon computer meeting; three people (including the grant development coordinator and an interested professor) attended the Fulbright meeting; and about 75 students and ASPEC members attended the evening event.
I contacted Jenifer, who agreed to speak in April, and, with the help of Dr. Amanda Hagood, executive director for the Program for Experienced Learners at Eckerd College, I made the necessary reservations and wrote the proposal (see attached). I also contacted the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC) to ask if they would be willing to co-sponsor (in terms of support) the event, and they agreed. The proposal was accepted in November.
Once the proposal was accepted, Amanda, who was on the College Computer Committee, asked the members if they would be interested in meeting with Jenifer about (1) the iPad initiative work she has done with pre-service teachers, (2) the digital collection of methods for analyzing multimodal texts she has curated, and (3) the open-access, e-textbook she wrote and edited, which was published this past year. At the suggestion of the ASPEC director, I contacted the faculty person charged with helping faculty and students obtain scholarships, including the Fulbright, to ask if they would be interested in meeting with Jenifer while she was on campus. I created a budget for the luncheon and evening event. Part of the funding came from CPS and part from PEL. I created flyers, handouts, and other promotional material and distributed them across campus. I also contacted a few PEL alumni who are involved in literacy programs, and they brought material to the evening event. I also compiled a list of literacy organizations in Pinellas County for the table.
About twelve professors and staff in instructional technology attended the luncheon computer meeting; three people (including the grant development coordinator and an interested professor) attended the Fulbright meeting; and about 75 students and ASPEC members attended the evening event.
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January 2017 Writers-in-Paradise Pre-Lecture Event
In January 2017, I worked with the Eckerd PEL alumni coordinator to host an event for PEL alumni who majored, minored, or completed a concentration in creative writing and literature. The event was held the same evening as and just prior to the opening lecture of the Writers in Paradise conference. this year we opened the event to PEL alumni who had published work in any discipline. We had twelve writers participate, and they represented business, human development/psychology, history, poetry, short stories, inspirational writing, and children's work. About fifty people attended the event, at which we also recognized the writing professors, instructors, and tutors who had been part of the program over the years.
Other Community Involvement
In January 2017, I co-presented, with Lee Anderson, "Confessions of a Pottery Addict" at a Coffee and Conversation event at Dunedin Fine Art Center. Lee is a clay instructor at DFAC and was asked to share his work at one of the monthly gatherings. I created a Powerpoint that showed his growth as an artist and presented the first part while he began working the clay. We also brought a display of the various styles he has worked in, and I included my collection of ChYA books related to pottery, including the Newbery winner A Single Shard by Linda Sue Parks and the Caldecott Honor Book When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Tom Bhati. A write-up about the event can be seen here: formedandfiredcreations.blogspot.com/2016/01/coffee-conversation-confessions-of.html
In March 2017, I served as a judge for the Milwaukee Press Club 2016 Contest. Best series ad idea, color (Non-daily Division, circ. more than 5,000). Best Video Journalism (All divisions). (Judging conducted 2017)
In May 2017, I served as a judge for the National Newspaper Association 2016 Better Newspaper Contest and/or Better Newspaper Advertising Contest. Best Business Story, Online/Professional Division. (Judging conducted 2017)
In July 2016, I finished reviewing an article for the Journal of Teacher Education. I had volunteered to do this in 2011, but this was the first time I had been contacted. I found that I was second-guessing myself and my comments, particularly because, if the list of references was any indicator, the author had been published several times prior. I finally decided to follow the guidelines for articles and to address each in turn. JTE blind-copied the reviewers on their response to the author, and I discovered my review was very much in line with the others. In June 2017, I was asked to review the revised article.
In March 2017, I served as a judge for the Milwaukee Press Club 2016 Contest. Best series ad idea, color (Non-daily Division, circ. more than 5,000). Best Video Journalism (All divisions). (Judging conducted 2017)
In May 2017, I served as a judge for the National Newspaper Association 2016 Better Newspaper Contest and/or Better Newspaper Advertising Contest. Best Business Story, Online/Professional Division. (Judging conducted 2017)
In July 2016, I finished reviewing an article for the Journal of Teacher Education. I had volunteered to do this in 2011, but this was the first time I had been contacted. I found that I was second-guessing myself and my comments, particularly because, if the list of references was any indicator, the author had been published several times prior. I finally decided to follow the guidelines for articles and to address each in turn. JTE blind-copied the reviewers on their response to the author, and I discovered my review was very much in line with the others. In June 2017, I was asked to review the revised article.