A Welcome Message from AETA's President: Traci Avalos

Welcome to the AETA website!

            I would first like to thank you for the work you do in English Education. In whatever capacity you work in the state of Arizona, you show your desire to make a difference in the youth of Arizona just by being here. You are one of the ones that goes above and beyond your job description to make a difference in the literacy of our youth. And they appreciate it—they really do!

            I think you will find a wealth of information throughout the website, including our award winning Connections newsletter, which is available online. In addition to giving recaps of previous AETA conferences, Connections contains helpful details related to teaching English, such as the regular column “Boreen’s Bookshelf,” a great place to get ideas about what is hot in young adult literature. Throughout the website, you will also find information about the Literary Map of Arizona, the Teachers as Writers contest, and the Cuthbert-Douglas-Armstrong Scholarship. Special thanks to Laura Turchi and Bruce Matsunaga for making this website a valuable resource for all of us.

            Our conference chairs Duane Roen, Tricia Sindel-Arrington, Renee Vahling, and Ian Moulton have been hard at work on this year’s annual conference. I hope you will join us October 16-17 for an idea-packed couple of days with featured authors PJ Haarsma and Frank Beddor, and keynote speaker Beverly Ann Chin. In addition to hearing them speak, you will get the opportunity to attend a number of concurrent sessions on a variety of topics that will help you keep your classroom alive with fresh ideas. And be sure not to miss Friday night—after the rave reviews following last year’s conference, we will again be having an author panel with Arizona authors for young adults. We are so thankful that J.S. Lewis, co-author of the Grey Griffins series, has agreed to moderate this panel!

            We have a lot of exciting additions planned for AETA this school year, including new technology and web content, partnerships, and the addition of sub-committees that will make it easier for you to get actively involved with AETA.

            Thanks for stopping by…I’ll see you at the conference!

Traci Avalos

7th/8th grade Language Arts and Reading Specialist

Ingleside Middle School