Today we have a guest post from Lauren Tarshis, editor of Storyworks magazine. Lauren and her team celebrated the 20th anniversary of Storyworks last week at the International Reading Association conference. Here is Lauren's reflection on the festivities!
Succulent food, great jazz, and thousands of fabulous educators: What combination could be better? That’s what I found in New Orleans last weekend, when the Storyworks team had the pleasure of traveling to the Big Easy for the annual conference of the International Reading Association. It’s always a thrill to meet throngs of dedicated teachers and reading specialists - but an even greater thrill this year, as we gathered with so many of you to toast our 20th anniversary!
Having been the editor of Storyworks for 17 of those 20 years, I had a chance to reflect on how this amazing resource has changed. (Can you imagine there was a time before we even had a website?!) Over the years, we’ve added videos, audio versions, scaffolded activities, and much more. Our combination of incredible content and rich support makes Storyworks a tool that many districts now use as their primary reading resource. (Did I mention that we’re only $6.99 per student?)
But as I told the teachers at IRA, as we raised our glasses of champagne, the story behind Storyworks is really a love story – between our team and thousands of teachers. Everything great about the magazine started as an idea from a teacher. We are in touch with many hundreds of you a year – in person, in your classrooms, on the phone, and by e-mail. Our question is always the same: What are your biggest challenges and how can we help you meet them?
The answer to this question is what’s in Storyworks. To learn more, visit www.scholastic.com/buy-storyworks.
Thanks to all the teachers who celebrated with us, and to all of you who are a part of our happy Storyworks story.
