Grant program from NCTE, Penguin Random House, Anne Frank Fonds Basel elevates teaching of memoir to educate, inspire student writers
Following a competitive application process, a select group of classroom teachers has been chosen to implement creative, engaging strategies for teaching memoir to support student writing using funds provided by the new Anne Frank Award for Teaching Memoir.
The awards program—launched in 2025 by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Penguin Random House, and Anne Frank Fonds Basel founded by Otto Frank—provides 10 English teachers with a $1,000 grant each to teach memoir across language arts education, with a focus on children’s voices and experiences during times of war.
“English language arts teachers recognize the unique value of memoir—and youth memoir in particular—to build students’ writing and reading skills,” NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick said. “The applicants spanning every state in the country represent the ingenuity and dedication held by English language arts teachers.”
The winners represent middle, secondary, and postsecondary settings in nine states spanning the US. The award funds are supporting these educators as they incorporate new memoirs, book sets, writing projects, and other special learning experiences centering stories and lived experiences through writing and reading.
For example, in one expanded ELA curriculum, eighth-grade students will deepen their literary analysis through close reading of memoir with new books, create a multimodal composition in print and audio formats, and celebrate their work at a community event. Elsewhere, a course will support 11th- and 12th-grade students in learning directly from professional writers as they create personal essays to be featured in the school’s literary magazine. And on one college campus, freshmen including veteran and military-affiliated student populations will create and share anonymous memoir reflections on life in war-torn countries before participating in immersive education experiences focused on war experiences.
“Through their teaching, these incredible educators are helping students connect more meaningfully with both history and their own voices,” said Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House. “Their work is shaping a generation of thoughtful, empathetic readers and writers.”
The award winners were chosen by a panel comprising teachers appointed by NCTE and one representative each from Penguin Random House Education and Anne Frank Fonds Basel.
“NCTE and Penguin Random House’s commitment to empowering young people through literary programs is an important element in educating them about the harsh realities of the present and giving young voices a platform to strengthen peaceful coexistence, including by addressing lessons learned from the past,” said Yves Kugelmann of the Board of Anne Frank Fonds Basel.
About the Winners
- Comfort Agboola is an award-winning middle school educator, literacy advocate, and founder of Lit and Love, LLC in Chicago, IL.
- Vivett Hemans Dukes is a veteran ELA educator, writer, and researcher with over a decade of experience in teaching middle and high school students in New York City.
- Kayla Ichikawa teaches 10th-grade English at Kingston High School in Kingston, New York.
- Patrick Martin is a high school English teacher at Charleston County School of the Arts in Charleston, South Carolina.
- Mackenzie Miller is in her second year of teaching ninth-grade English at Wilson School District in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.
- Dr. Jon Mundorf is an award-winning teacher and researcher at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.
- Rhea Ramakrishnan is a writer and educator who has been teaching in public K–12 and higher education environments for a decade. She teaches high school in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Ameer Sohrawardy has been a College Lecturer II in the English department at Ocean County College in New Jersey since 2019.
- Anna Suppe is a 7th-grade teacher at Horace Mann Middle School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- Christina Yanuaria is a first-generation academic whose scholarship challenges conventional epistemologies of educational andragogies and embraces a praxis aligned with the communal philosophy of Ubuntu: I am because we are. She teaches at a community college in California.
About NCTE
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the professional organization for literacy teachers spanning preK through college. Through expertise and advocacy from its members’ professional research, practice, and knowledge, NCTE has served at the forefront of every major improvement in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts since 1911. For more information, please visit ncte.org.
About Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House creates books for everyone. We believe books change us, connect us, and carry us toward a better future. As the world’s largest trade publisher, we reach readers in more than 175 countries with stories and ideas across the spectrum of viewpoints and experiences. Each year, we publish more than 14,000 new works spanning fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages and in all print, digital, and audio formats. Penguin Random House is a proud home to the world’s most influential voices, thinkers, and storytellers, including more than 80 Nobel Prize laureates, 140 US Pulitzer Prizes, 20 National Book Awards, and 24 UK Booker Award winners. As fierce champions for free expression and expanding access to books, we celebrate the right to read, think, and learn. Every day we strive to build a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world. With businesses in more than 20 countries, Penguin Random House was formed in 2013 and has been solely owned by Bertelsmann since 2020. PRHEducation.com
About the Anne Frank Fonds Basel
The Anne Frank Fonds Basel was founded in 1963 by Otto Frank and designated as universal heir. Otto Frank’s commitment was to an open society showing solidarity and without prejudice or marginalization. He particularly supported work relating to peace, young people, and dialogue and advocated the strengthening of human rights as well as opposing any form of discrimination, racism, or anti-Semitism. The nonprofit organization works on a voluntary basis and supports children’s rights projects. annefrank.ch/en
MEDIA CONTACT:
Allie Ciaramella, NCTE: media@ncte.org