Loyola announces winners for 2018 Literacy Leader and Educator of the Year awards

Loyola University Maryland’s School of Education has announced the 2018 Literacy Leader and Educator of the Year.

Sedrick Smith, ’05, M.Ed. ’15, director of admissions at Baltimore City College, is Loyola’s 2018 Literacy Leader. Smith, an alumni of Baltimore City College, is vocal about Baltimore City schools, and had two op-eds in the Sun regarding education in the city in 2017.

The Literacy Leader Award recognizes a graduate of Loyola’s Literacy Master’s program specializing in either reading or literacy who promotes literacy; demonstrates innovation in practice; exhibits principled leadership within the school or community; and models lifelong learning as a member of the professional literacy community.

Melissa Simmons, a third grade English Language Arts teacher at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, is the 2018 Educator of the Year. Originally from Kentucky, Simmons has been an educator in Baltimore City since 2015 and is Loyola’s site coordinator for the School of Education’s partnership with Lakeland School.  

The Educator of the Year Award recognizes a Maryland educator who demonstrates accomplished practice and innovation in literacy teaching and learning; fosters a literacy-rich and welcoming classroom community; models lifelong learning; enhances the literacy development of all students; collaborates and shares best practices with colleagues; and exhibits principled practice in the classroom, school, and/or community.

Smith and Simmons will be awarded at a ceremony on Feb. 26, 2018, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Fourth Floor Program Room in the Andrew White Student Center on Loyola’s Evergreen campus. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To reserve seats, go to http://www.loyola.edu/joinus/literacyleadership/reserve-seats.

This year’s keynote speaker is Alan Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of English education at Wake Forest University, who will give his address, “Examining the Intersections of Literacy, Sports, Culture, and Society in K-12 Schools: Implications for Students and Teachers.”