TUCSON—Jan. 21, 2021—Last fall, more than 450 educators across the country applied for the first-ever Learning A-Z Impact Grant. Today, Learning A-Z announces the 10 grant winners who will receive a free subscription to the company’s award-winning blended learning solutions with aligned professional development to help them positively impact student literacy outcomes, close literacy gaps, and eliminate resource gaps.
The 2021-22 Impact Grant winners were selected based on criteria including their instructional needs, proposed implementation plan and measurement of student outcomes, innovation and creativity. The recipients are: Brandy Chase of West Elementary School (OK), Lisa Marie Fuchs of Indian Mills Elementary School (NJ), Leonard Gonzalez of Mackenzie Middle School (TX), Lesia Jones of Clinton W. Young Elementary School (IN), Deanna McFarland of Jefferson Elementary School (PA), Dana McGee of Arthur C. Newby Elementary School (IN), Lyle Patty of Mayfair Elementary School (CA), Teresa Pavloff of Edgewood Elementary School (IN), Stephanie Potter of Friendship Valley Elementary School (MD), and Tarin Willett of Union Park School (AZ).
Each grant winner will choose the Learning A-Z PreK–6 online reading and science instructional resources that will best meet his or her unique needs, and they will have access to these resources through June 2022. They will also receive free professional development and coaching to strategically integrate these blended learning resources into distance, hybrid, or in-person learning. The winners will be part of a national community of educators and content and product experts working collaboratively to innovate, champion student literacy, and close literacy gaps.
“My biggest challenge for literacy instruction [during remote learning] is the absence of materials in-hand for students, specifically books. Raz-Plus will provide my students with the opportunity to have a wide variety of choices in fiction and nonfiction texts that they do not have access to now,” said McFarland, a kindergarten teacher in Erie, Pa. “In an urban school system where students already have so many other struggles, learning should not be one of them. Having a grant to supply my students with reading and writing opportunities will give me the ability to teach them more successfully and to have more success with their literacy.”
“This year, teachers are facing unprecedented levels of variability in students’ reading skills. COVID-19-related school closures and inequities in remote learning have not only resulted in learning loss for many students, but different rates of loss,” said Learning A-Z President Lisa O’Masta. “Our Impact Grant program speaks to the heart of who we are and what we do by connecting passionate, innovative teachers with the resources they need to support their teaching and measurably improve student learning.”
Impact Grants are part of the Learning A-Z Impact in Action initiative, a collaborative, community-based program which combines grants, research, and customer collaboration to help teachers make the greatest impact in education.
About Learning A–Z
Learning A-Z delivers PreK–6 literacy solutions that are designed to make teachers’ lives easier. Its award-winning digital products are used by more than 11 million students in more than 170 countries. Learning A-Z is a business unit of Cambium Learning Group, Inc.
For more information, please visit www.learninga-z.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.
Media Contact:
Charity Periman
Director of Account Management
charity.periman@learninga-z.com
