Welcome from the Executive Director

Welcome to the 111th NCTE Annual Convention!

We are so happy to have you join us. Whether this is a treasured annual tradition or your first time attending, we offer a radical welcome into this community during and after the convention. May you find bountiful opportunities to add your voice, learn from the expertise of peers, and discover ways to enhance literacy education for all students and communities.

Guided by program chair Dr. Valerie Kinloch’s vision, we challenge ourselves to do more and do better for youth and learners of all ages. Wherever you are on your path, this Convention presents opportunities to challenge your thinking and create new and more equitable literacy practices.

We honor the commitment of so many partners, authors, and volunteers who have woven their contributions together to make this incredible event take place this year. NCTE truly does have a village working day and night to create opportunities for our discipline and its people. Thank you so much.

Building on the award-winning inaugural virtual convention1, our team has challenged itself to build further into the future. You’ll see small and big steps to add connection and augment community conversation aided by a humancentric commitment to leverage technology. We also continue to be humble, with the awareness that technology sometimes sends surprises. We ask for your advance goodwill and grace should any glitches occur. We’ll be working continuously behind the scenes to make the most of every planned—and perhaps unexpected—event.

I commend my NCTE staff colleagues who have rallied to bold new visions and continue to work tirelessly in service of this Convention and the people it serves. When we are energized by the call to do more while we must abide by the demands cast by a worldwide pandemic, our team stays focused on excellence. I’m so grateful for our staff and our many partners who all share NCTE’s mission.

Again, welcome. We look forward to your feedback in our quest to continue building this event in service of inspired literacy education.

Warmly,

Emily Kirkpatrick Executive Director