Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University will be the site of Duke Energy's Power of Reading Summit for early elementary school teachers in the company's service area on Nov. 23.

The summit is open to 350 kindergarten through second grade teachers - two teachers per school or six teachers per school corporation - from the 437 public and private elementary schools in Duke Energy's Indiana service area.

"An important part of staying current in the profession of teaching is engaging in high quality, relevant professional development that in turn will lead to effective instructional practice in the classroom," said Kandi Hill-Clarke, dean of the Bayh College of Education. "Providing teachers with time to network, collaborate in a safe learning space and learn new strategies and techniques that will have a positive impact on student learning and engagement is critical to the important work teachers do. This statewide literacy event will do just that - provide teachers with additional instructional practices and strategies to add to their backpacks."

Made possible through a $44,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation and co-hosted by Indiana State and the Indiana Department of Education, the event will run from 8:15 a.m.-3:45 p.m. in University Hall.

"Literacy is a major part of student success, and teachers are the key," said Duke Energy Indiana President Melody Birmingham Byrd. "We're interested in supporting literacy in a variety of ways, including helping teachers who inspire students every day."

Following a welcome from Byrd and Mike Licari, Indiana State's provost and vice president of academic affairs, teachers will have an opportunity to hear from nationally-recognized speakers in the area of early childhood literacy and have their choice of eight presentations to attend.

"In the Bayh College of Education, we recognize and understand the importance of collaborating with our P-12 and business partners to support teacher development," Hill-Clarke said. "We are excited about the partnership we have with Duke Energy and the Indiana Department of Education to provide professional development for teachers in the field of literacy. We look forward to hosting teachers from across the state on our campus for this day of professional development and networking."

Registration is available at https://isu-aceweb-001.indstate.edu/CourseStatus.awp?&course=15conremread.

Writer: Betsy Simon, media relations assistant director, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-7972 or betsy.simon@indstate.edu