Welcome from the Program Chair

WELCOME FROM MARÍA E. FRÁNQUIZ

PROGRAM CHAIR

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought formidable changes that have impacted our families, schools, professional organizations, the nation, and the world. I commend you for your resilience and patience with the changes that were necessary in our personal and professional learning during these extraordinary times. To address a future affected by these changes, the 2022 NCTE Annual Convention in Anaheim offers opportunities to explore the theme “¡Sueños! Pursuing the Light!” This is such an important moment for our community of educators to explore and pursue the light together, in place and virtually!

My call for proposals stated, “As the new moment grows, we can share the ways our individual and collective pursuit of light assisted and continues to assist us in imagining a new story with bright spots and possible new sueños, new dreams—for ourselves, our students, and our communities” (see my call for proposals on the NCTE Convention website: “An Invitation to #NCTE22”). I believe these new dreams are so important because they have the power to transform lives and make education systems more equitable.

The proposal responses to the call for “¡Sueños! Pursuing the Light!” were so inspiring. Whether the authors of proposals were teachers, students, administrators, publishers, consultants, or curriculum designers, the desire to share light in and through various approaches such as diverse books, critical lessons, multimodal literacies, or justice-oriented pedagogies was robustly present. The eloquent words, ideas, stories, and activities generated by the call offer immense possibilities for hope and renewal. In my quest for my own renewal, I invite and welcome you to ignite the light within you and to share that light collectively with us in Anaheim.

The Annual Convention provides many experiences and resources for us to take home. There will be:

● Actionable teacher-to-teacher innovations ● Make-and-take projects ● Ideas for cultivating and shining a light on equitable practices ● Moments to celebrate play and work—plork! ● Shared methods to help schools become bright stars in their communities ● Conversations on ways to advance English, bilingualism, and multilingualism In the pursuit of light, and for the realization of our dreams as educators, I welcome you to our 2022 Convention! I look forward to learning from and with you and exploring better ways to shine a bright light on all of our students, schools, and communities.

All the best, María E. Fránquiz NCTE President-Elect and 2022 NCTE Annual Convention Program Chair