NCTE Annual Convention Goes Virtual
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lori Bianchini, NCTE Meetings & Events, Annual2020@ncte.org; 217-278-3611
June 1, 2020—The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) announced today that its annual meeting, scheduled for November 19–22 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, will move online amid continuing safety concerns and closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By state order, the Colorado Convention Center will remain staged as a temporary field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients through the rest of the year.
“NCTE supports Colorado’s decision to put safety first in this evolving crisis. We thank all of our partners in Denver and the state of Colorado who have worked with us to prepare for our annual event, including the Colorado Language Arts Society, our vibrant state affiliate. We now accelerate our planning for a virtual experience,” said NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick.
While the in-person 2020 Annual Convention, which was set to bring together more than 8,000 educators, is no longer possible, NCTE is working to create a dynamic and interactive online gathering. The virtual event will allow teachers, authors, and publishers to connect in support of literacy, language, and literature. At a time when the COVID-19 crisis has closed schools, educators and literacy experts are turning to their professional communities for support and inspiration to address the ongoing challenges in meeting the academic and social-emotional needs of millions of students.
“Literacy educators active in NCTE’s fold make a tremendous difference in their students’ lives,” said Kirkpatrick. “Their commitment to nurturing and supporting student learning and growth is even more important at this time when so much uncertainty prevails.” 2020 NCTE Annual Convention Program Chair and President-Elect Alfredo Celedón Luján echoed Kirkpatrick’s sentiments: “NCTE is where concepts, theories, and in-the-trenches teaching and collaboration meet. We look forward to creating an engaging and meaningful digital confluence of ideas to better support our students and teachers, especially right now.”
As the leading professional literacy organization, with members from early childhood through graduate-level education, NCTE has been an essential professional resource since its founding in 1911. The Annual Convention has been the premier event, bringing together educators, researchers, authors, and publishers for professional learning and networking. This year’s Convention was expected to draw attendees from around the world for more than 900 keynotes, presentations, and workshops.
The organization is working with many of the scheduled presenters and authors to move the event online, offering attendees a rich experience rooted in the Convention theme, which Luján describes as “the reunion of ideas, genres, philosophies, songs, genders, cultures, heritage, ethnicities, regions, terrains, teachers, and students.”
Keynote addresses will feature US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, among others.
NCTE affiliate groups and partners, including the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE, Conference on English Leadership, and the National Writing Project, will continue to be intimately involved in the event.
This spring, NCTE has pioneered approaches to support its community online. Weekly Member Gatherings have attracted thousands of registrations, and a number of author events have spurred widespread learning and conversation. NCTE will build on these practices to create the newly constructed online meeting this November. More details and registration for the 110th Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English will be available before July 31 on the convention website.
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About NCTE
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the nation’s most comprehensive literacy organization, supporting more than 25,000 teachers across the preK–college spectrum. Through the expertise of its members, NCTE has served at the forefront of every major improvement in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts since 1911. www.ncte.org