Keynote Speaker: Kelly Gallagher

Kelly teaches high school English full-time in Anaheim, California. He has been a teacher-leader in the California Reading and Literature Project both at UCLA and UCI and is currently the co-director of the South Basin Writing Project at California State University, Long Beach. Kelly is the author of Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School, Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12, and Teaching Adolescent Writers.

Laura Robb, author of Teaching Reading in Middle School, Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math, Redefining Staff Development, and Literacy Links, has taught language arts at Powhatan School in Boyce, Virginia, for more that 35 years. She is a co-author of the Reader's Handbooks for grades 3, 4-5, and 6-8, as well as the Reading and Writing Sourcebooks for grades 3-5 and the Summer Success: Reading Program. Robb also mentors and coaches teachers in Virginia Public Schools and speaks at conferences throughout the country on reading and writing.

Bill McBride is a well-known national speaker, educator, and author. A former middle and high school Reading Specialist, English, and Social Studies teacher, Bill presently trains teachers both national and internationally in content area reading methodologies. His workshops are known for both his humor and practical application to the classroom. He holds a Masters in Reading and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bill has contributed to the development of a number of school textbook series in Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Vocabulary Development. Dr. McBride is also known for his heartwarming novel Entertaining an Elephant. Already in its fourteenth printing and used by school districts across the nation, the book tells the moving story of a burned-out teacher who becomes re-inspired with both his profession and his life. His latest book, Literacy for a Democratic Society, is due out in the Spring of 2007.

Enrique A. Puig has over 25 years of teaching experience and is the Director of the Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence Center, a project of Just Read, Florida, at the University of Central Florida. His expertise in literacy education and coaching has been called upon by colleagues in school districts across the country and at the Ohio State University, Texas Tech University, Purdue University, and the University of Central Florida. He has presented at national and international conferences. The Florida Department of Education has recognized him as a Title I Distinguished Educator. Enrique has co-authored The Literacy Coaching: Guiding in the Right Direction.

ReLeah Cossett Lent, a secondary teacher for over twenty years, is now a national educational consultant. Her latest book, Engaging Adolescent Learners: A Guide for Content-Area Teachers, focuses on issues of student engagement and adolescent literacy. She previously co-authored two books, At the Schoolhouse Gate and Silent No More, books that won Lent and her co-author, Gloria Pipkin, Intellectual Freedom awards from ALA and NCTE. Her latest book, Literacy Learning Communities: Authentic, Embedded, Sustained will be released in fall of 2007.