One of Penguin Random House’s core objectives and values is to help create and foster a lifelong love of reading; and what better way to do that than to work with early childhood educators who, along with parents, are on the frontlines with young readers as many often engage with books for the first time in their classrooms.
With this in mind, on Monday, August 19th, 2019, the inaugural Penguin Random House Elementary Education Teacher Advisory Board was convened in our NYC headquarters. The educators, representing a wide diversity of schools, experiences and perspectives, exchanged with PRH education colleagues, discussing ideas and providing feedback on new and developing PRH initiatives in the elementary education space, including this new website.
At the end of the day, the Board crafted its own Advisory Board Mission Statement, which will help guide their activity over the next year. It reads as follows:
“We are an advisory board of elementary educators—representing a variety of schools, perspectives, and experiences—who partner with Penguin Random House to support and inspire teachers and learners with outstanding books.
We evaluate, collaborate, and create action plans to connect Penguin Random House initiatives to educators and students.
We develop resources that encourage choice, support the use of authentic, high-quality, and inclusive literature, and foster a love of reading within and beyond the classroom.”
Colin Reublinger, Manager of PRH Elementary Education, commented “I’m excited about the work we are doing in PRH Elementary Education. With this Board’s guidance we will be better prepared to support teachers and parents and ultimately make a lasting impact on student success both in and out of the classroom.”
The Board members have agreed to serve for one full year, which will include quarterly conference calls and gatherings at education conferences, such as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Baltimore, MD this coming November, as well as occasional exchanges on key topics as PRH continues to do more work next year and beyond in the early education space.
Top row, from left to right: Michael Gentile, Adrienne Waintraub, Colin Reublinger, Rob Roth, Kristen Stevens, Laura Robb, Patrick Andrus, Travis Temple, Trevor Ingerson. Bottom row, from left to right: Arielle Lewin, Molly Ness, Annabella Sherman, Kristin Schulz
Inaugural PRH Elementary Education Advisory Board (in alphabetical order):
- Patrick Andrus: 4th grade teacher, Eden Prairie Schools (MN)
- Michelle C. Jarrett: Library Media Supervisor, School District of Osceola County (FL) (not pictured)
- Arielle Lewin: K-5 Gifted and Talented, Lewisville ISD (TX)
- Molly Ness: K-6 Educator/Professor/Author, Fordham University (NY)
- Laura Robb: K-8 Educator/Teacher Trainer/Author, Winchester Public Schools (VA)
- Rob Roth: Elementary Teacher, Ps1 Bergen (NY)
- Kristen Stevens: Literacy Specialist, Center Elementary School (CT)
