Posted: January 24, 2024
President’s Message
by Tony Pieper
Welcome to a new year of the Iowa Reading Association. I am very excited to be serving as president of our association again! I am a reading teacher at BCLUW Middle School in Union, Iowa. I have been teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade general education reading classes at BCLUW for the past 35 years. During my career at BCLUW, I have belonged to the Hardy Reading Council which serves Butler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Marshall, and Tama counties. As an active member of the Hardy Reading Council, I have served numerous terms as Council President, President-Elect/Membership Chair, Vice President/Program Chair, Honor Council Chair, and Merit Council Chair. I have also served on the Iowa Reading Association Board of Directors and Executive Board as Zone B Director (2007-2010), Vice President (2010-2011), President-Elect/State Conference Chair (2011- 2012), President (2012-2013 and 2022-2023), and Past-President (2013-2014). I live in Beaman with my wife, Amy, and have three grown daughters. My daughter Kelsey Nilles teaches at Grundy Center Elementary School and is an Iowa Reading Association Co-Past President and Conference Co-Chair as well.
During my time serving on the Iowa Reading Association board of directors, I have made many friends. I am excited to announce that one of my friends on the board, Sohyun Meacham, has been elected as the new 2023-2023 Iowa Reading Association vice president and will also become the 2025 conference chair. Soh is currently the Interim Associate Dean of Research, Scholarship and Faculty Excellence and an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Northern Iowa. She has served on the executive board of the Iowa Reading Association as the state secretary and the newsletter editor since 2021. She has attended the EIRC council meetings. She has presented her work at the International Literacy Association conferences since she started her membership in the organization about 13 years ago. She also has served on the boards of other national/international education organizations, such as the EECD SIG of the American Educational Research Association and The Association for the Study of Play. Since becoming a member, Soh has appreciated the community of the Iowa Reading Association that helps her learn with and from literacy teachers in the state. I want to congratulate Soh for her advancement to vice president on the Iowa Reading Association board of directors!
When Soh announced this past summer her intent to become our new vice president, the association was faced with the difficult task of replacing her as state secretary and newsletter editor. Fortunately, Soh was able to help us find her replacement by encouraging Monaliza M. Chian to run for the office of secretary of the Iowa Reading Association. Monaliza M. Chian, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Instruction and the 2+2 program coordinator for elementary education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction within the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. Because of Dr. Chian’s interest in literacy development and her desire to continue her involvement in the International Literacy Association, she welcomed the invitation from the leaders of the association to join the Eastern Iowa Reading Council and the Iowa Reading Association. As our new secretary, she will be in a position to learn from the leaders and the members of the Iowa Reading Association and, in turn, provide new perspectives related to reading and literacy development as a new member of the leadership team and in the organization. I look forward to working with Monaliza and want to thank her for her willingness to serve on the board!
I encourage all new and returning members of the Iowa Reading Association to make the most of your membership this year. Please become actively involved in your local councils by attending your local council meetings. You will learn wonderful teaching ideas and techniques and will have the opportunity to network with other literacy colleagues. Also, take the time to read the Iowa Reading Association newsletter and visit our website at https://www.iowareading.org. These resources will keep you up-to-date on the latest news and events taking place in the Iowa Reading Association and the local councils. Your active participation at both the local and state level is vital to our wonderful organization. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your local council officers or the Iowa Reading Association Board of Directors. You can find our emails on the Iowa Reading website. Remember- we are here to serve you!
Documents
Open Our Facebook AccountOpen Our Twitter Account