NJCTE Receives 2018 NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Affiliate Award

The New Jersey Council of Teachers of English is one of five recipients of the 2018 NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Affiliate Award given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

New Jersey Council president Audrey Fisch of Westfield reports that the affiliate will focus on addressing and supporting underrepresented teachers of color in New Jersey and within their own organization.

The NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Affiliate Award presents grants to affiliates of NCTE that initiate a program that will recruit teachers of color into the affiliate or the profession. Judges look for programs that are thorough and that have the potential to recruit and retain teachers of color into the profession and the affiliate.

Studies have demonstrated the need for recruitment strategies to meet the growing shortage of teachers of color in elementary and secondary American schools where the multiethnic student population continues to increase and will soon be the majority of students. In response to this need, the NCTE Fund offers grants of up to $750 each to selected affiliates that submit proposals to implement recruitment initiatives for teachers of color during the school year of the award.

The award winners will be announced at the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention in Houston, during the Affiliate Roundtable Breakfast on Sunday, November 18.

For more information about the NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Award, see http://www2.ncte.org/awards/affiliate-ncte-fund-teachers-for-the-dream/.

For more information about the NJCTE Teachers for the Dream program, stay tuned to our website and/or blog and/or reach out to NJCTE President Audrey Fisch, njctepresident@gmail.com.

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English

Notes from the 2017 NCTE Affiliate Breakfast

Yesterday, I wrote about attending the NCTE 2017 Annual Business Meeting. I also had the honor to represent the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English at the NCTE Affiliate Roundtable Breakfast.

NJCTE was among the many affiliates to be honored in a number of categories: Affiliate Membership Recruitment Award (for affiliates whose membership grew by 5% or more in 2016-2017); Affiliate Newsletter of Excellence Award (for NJCTE e-Focus, edited by Patricia Schall  and Susan Reese), Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award (for New Jersey English Journal, edited by Liz deBeer), and NCTE Affiliate Excellence Awards (for NCTE affiliates that meet high standards of performance).

NJCTE Board Member Audrey Fisch accepts the 2017 NCTE Journal of Excellence Award on Behalf of New Jersey English Journal

We won the latter award for the 6^th year!

We have done some good work together. But there is more work to be done!

NJCTE is beginning an examination of our website, which may need an update. Are you interesting in participating in this task? If yes, please reach out to NJCTE Board Member Sarah Gross (@thereadingzone), who is spearheading this initiative. We are also planning to submit an application to the NCTE Fund Teachers for the Dream Award, which is a grant intended to support initiatives aimed at recruiting English language arts teachers of color. Reach out to NJCTE Board Member Audrey Fisch (@audreyfisch) about helping with this initiative.

Finally, I want to add that the most inspiring and impressive element of the Affiliate Breakfast was hearing from the winners of the NCTE Student Affiliate of Excellence award winners. These are the amazing teachers and NCTE leaders of our future, and they were a phenomenal group of young people. NJCTE needs to develop a student affiliate (or more than one). Do we have a teacher educator who might help with this initiative? Reach out to NJCTE President Susan Reese (@mrsreese) if you are interested. Or reach out to us through the comments section of this blog or the NJCTE website. We welcome your interest!

Meanwhile, congratulations to all who have worked to make NJCTE a success. Let’s continue to build on that success!

Written by Audrey Fisch, Board Member, NJCTE, Professor of English, New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ

Posted by Audrey Fisch, blog editor for NJCTE

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English