Session notifications for the 2017 NCTE Annual Convention were emailed yesterday. If you were expecting a message but didn’t receive one, check your spam folder or login to the proposal system to view your status. In this post from Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick we learn about the decision-making process that goes into program selection each year. 
NCTE ADVOCACY DAY

Tomorrow is NCTE Advocacy Day. Several members will be joining staff and NCTE leaders on Capitol Hill to share our policy recommendations for this year. We’ll have the chance to hear from Virginia Foxx, Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Representative Ben Ray Luján. You can follow along with us tomorrow via the hashtag #literacyadvocacy. 

There are lots of ways to engage in advocacy beyond a visit to DC. Here are just a few:
  • Focus on Everyday Advocacy and the ways in which pushing for change locally can trickle up to changes on a larger scale.
  • Learn more about the issues behind our 2017 policy recommendations in this recorded webinar: Every Member an Advocate. 
  • Explore these advocacy actions you can do whether you have one minute or two hours to spare. 
Read More. 

SPONSORS
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Congratulations to the 2017 WLU Award Recipients: 

Kathryn Mitchell Pierce, Saint Louis University, Missouri (Lifetime Membership) 
Jane Baskwill, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Service)
Elisa Waingort, Academia Cotopaxi, Quito, Ecuador (Reclaiming the Joy of Teaching) 
Special thanks to our members who recently wrote posts for the Literacy & NCTE blog. 
AWARDS

NCTE Intellectual Freedom Award Deadline: May 1
This award honors individuals, groups, or institutions that merit recognition for advancing the cause of intellectual freedom.

CCCC Outstanding Book Award Deadline: May 1
Presented annually for work in the field of composition and rhetoric, the CCCC Outstanding Book Award gives two awards—one for a single-authored or multi-authored work and one for an edited collection of scholarly work. A work eligible for the 2018 award will have been published in calendar year 2016 or 2017. Visit the award guidelines for further details.

CEE James N. Britton Award Nomination deadline: May 1
Promotes classroom-based research in which teachers at any level (preschool through university) raise questions about teaching and learning in their own settings. Nominations can be made by the author of the study or by any English language arts educator. Visit the award guidelines for further details.  

CEE Geneva Smitherman Cultural Diversity Grant Deadline: May 20
This grant is for first-time NCTE Annual Convention presenters (with an accepted program proposal) who are members of groups historically underrepresented in NCTE and CEE. Up to two $500 awards are offered. Visit the award guidelines for further details. 

NCTE Affiliate Awards Deadline: May 1
There are many awards available to affiliates, covering everything from intellectual freedom to journals to membership. 

NCTE Media Literacy Award Deadline: June 30
This award will be presented to an individual, team, or department that has implemented and refined exemplary media literacy practices in their school. 

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH & RESOURCES

NCTE Web Seminar Tuesday, May 23 5pm ET (FREE for NCTE members) “Connecting with Intention” with Franki Sibberson and William Bass 

Día is an annual celebration (April 30th) and daily commitment that honors author and poet Pat Mora’s highest priorities: books, children/adolecents and families, inclusion, and world languages. More information here. 

Everyday Advocacy Deadline to Apply: May 1
When: June 27-29 / Where: Eastern Michigan University
Got an issue you want to address? Join fellow educators for “Telling Our Stories/Raising Our Voices: From Anecdote to Action,” an intensive summer workshop that will help you develop an action plan for everyday advocacy. 

#NCTEchat Sunday, May 21 8pm ET
Planning for Summer Rejuvenation and Learning 

Chicago, Illinois, June 26–June 28, 2017 Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is offering dorm rooms for $65 a night.
This year’s conference is themed “Engaging Citizens, Building Community” and its mission is to explore the relationships among media literacy education, civic participation, and community-building within our contemporary culture.  
COLLEGE NEWS

2017 CEE Summer Conference
CEE invites you to register for the 5th CEE Summer Conference, (Com)Passionate English Education, which will be held June 1–4, 2017, at The Ohio State University, Columbus. The registration deadline is May 22, 2017. The registration fee includes six meals, access to all sessions and speakers, and all materials. Housing in The Ohio State University dorms is available at $63/night.
2017 CCCC Summer Conference series

Sharing Best Practices
Boston University, May 24–25, 2017
Registration deadline: May 19 

Composing Worlds with Words
Virginia Commonwealth University, June 2, 2017
Registration deadline: May 29 

Making Spaces for Diverse Writing Practice
San José State University, June 8–10, 2017
Registration deadline: June 8

Diverse Writers, Diverse Writing
Clermont College, University of Cincinnati, June 8–10, 2017
Registration deadline: May 15