Learn more about our first elementary cohort of scholarship recipients.
These teachers are putting in countless hours training in EBLI, improving student outcomes this year and for years to come.
Lindsay
Stephanie
Lizzie
Jessica
Although our trainees work in diverse settings with students of all ages, they share the common goal of creating confident learners who are prepared to pursue their dreams and lead successful lives.
Carolina Rivas, Para Professional, K & 1st Grade
I work mostly with Hispanic students. Kids that have never been in school. My hope is for my students to become literate, successful individuals who believe in their ability to accomplish anything they set their minds to.e.
Julie Malek, High School Librarian
The vast majority of our students are students of color and a large percentage are English Language Learners. Our students are kind, intelligent kids who deserve to graduate from high school reading proficiently and with a love for learning and reading. I want to help students become more fluent readers and feel a sense of urgency and frustration with the fact that many of our students struggle to read. EBLI seems like a very efficacious method to move the needle.
Juan Camilo Ortiz Bernal, ELA-S 4th & 5th Grade
The population I serve is made up of newcomer students from Latin America, including Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Honduras. All of my students are native Spanish speakers who are just beginning to learn English. They face the challenge of adapting to a new culture, school system, and language all at once. Their primary need is language support—both in developing English proficiency and in building the confidence to use it in academic and social settings. They also need a welcoming, inclusive environment that values their cultural backgrounds and helps them feel seen and supported. In the coming years, I hope these students will gain strong English skills that allow them to fully participate in their education, express their ideas, and pursue their goals with confidence. More importantly, I hope they develop a sense of belonging and pride in their bilingual and bi-cultural identities, becoming successful, empowered members of their new communities.
Jessica Collins, K-5 Literacy Interventionist
My professional success as an educator, and specifically as a literacy interventionist, has been driven by a commitment to continuous learning and a belief in the potential for innovation in education. Through intentionally investing in my own professional growth, I have discovered valuable resources and deepened my understanding of effective literacy instruction, which has strengthened my practice and positively impacted the students I serve. This journey has reinforced my belief that education is constantly evolving while creating exciting opportunities to bring emerging research and effective approaches more fully into our classrooms. It also highlights the potential of these new tools and instructional methods to positively transform outcomes. I am excited about EBLI because it represents a forward-thinking approach to literacy – one that holds promise for ensuring that prolonged struggles with reading become part of education’s past and that more students experience success as confident, capable readers in the future.