The annual Literacy Conference was a powerful weekend of training, enrichment, and community-building for tutors working in early education programs, managed by Duke Community Affairs. The two-day event brought together dozens of dedicated tutors for a lineup of inspiring sessions, practical workshops, and thoughtful discussions, all aimed at empowering them to foster literacy and a love for learning among young students.
The conference, made possible by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, opened with a warm welcome from Rukmini Balu, Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff at Duke Community Affairs.
A range of experts from the community provided professional development for the tutors. Vanessa Collier Robinson of nonprofit Book Harvest modeled reading strategies. Keundra Robinson, an educational professional for Durham Public Schools, shared culturally responsive teaching practices. Tutors learned ways to address racial disparities and biases when working with children of color with literacy by Jovonia Lewis, Executive Director of Empowered Parents in Community (EPiC).
The group explored interdisciplinary approaches with Emily Bilcik from Duke’s Office of Climate and Sustainability facilitated a session on using the environment as an educational “classroom.”
Attendees had the opportunity to learn about new resources for creating purposeful, engaging lessons such as the latest EdTech tools, innovative ways to use libraries, and virtual tutoring models.
The conference closed with final reflections and interactive activities, including wellness and resilience activities, to bolster participants’ well-being as they support young learners.
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