Charlotte Literacy Summit
Literacy Summit Schedule [CLICK TO DOWNLOAD Full Schedule with breakout session information including links to presentation slides where provided by presenters]
The Summit will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte with a welcome session followed by three breakout sessions with presentations you can choose from. At noon, we’ll move to the Student Union for lunch and to hear from our keynote speaker, Alicia D. Williams. Following lunch we’ll split into networking meetings to foster conversation and build community for literacy educators, regional literacy groups, and Literacy Innovation Leaders (LIL).
- Download full schedule with breakout session information with links to presentation slides where provided by presenters
- Add your thoughts to our Networking Session Jamboard where you can post your questions, ideas for collaboration, possible goals. We’ll use these in our networking meetings at 1:30 p.m.
Time | Event | Location |
---|---|---|
8:30 to 8:50 a.m. | Welcome | Cato COED 010 |
9:00 to 9:50 a.m. | Breakout Session #1 | Cato COED 038, 102, 103, 110, 166, 167 |
10:00 to 10:50 a.m. | Breakout Session #2 | Cato COED 038, 102, 103, 110, 166, 167 |
11:00 to 11:50 a.m. | Breakout Session #3 | Cato COED 038, 102, 103, 110, 166, 167 |
Noon to 1:15 p.m. | Lunch with author Alicia D. Williams, Keynote Speaker A buffet lunch | Student Union Multipurpose Room (3rd floor) |
1:30 to 2:30 p.m. | Networking Group Meetings [Networking Ideas Jamboard]
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2023 Charlotte Literacy Summit is April 22
UNC Charlotte’s Cato College of Education is hosting its second Charlotte Literacy Summit on April 22, 2023. The Literacy Summit 2023 is a space for literacy educators and stakeholders to meet and share ideas to help us forge paths forward after challenges faced by teachers, students, and communities over the past few years. The Summit will include a morning of conversation and workshops followed by lunch featuring a keynote speaker, Alicia D. Williams, award-winning author of Genesis Begins Again, The Talk, and Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston.
The summit will be open to educators and is free of charge with a maximum capacity (around 125 participants). Lunch will be provided at no cost and a book from our keynote speaker, Alicia Williams, will be given to each participant.
We have sought input from teachers and literacy leaders in our network and have developed a theme to communicate the challenges faced by literacy educators including changing curricula and post-pandemic needs of students: Forging New Paths. The summit will include workshops, discussion and networking organized around three strands:
- Elementary educators
- Middle and secondary educators
- Teacher education and educator professional development
There will be 18 presentations to choose from in three breakout sessions.
Register to Attend
The Charlotte Literacy Summit is free but requires registration which is limited to 125 participants so SIGN UP TODAY by completing the Registration Form.
Building Community & Fostering Conversation with Networking Meetings
Our goal is to foster conversations and share ideas of practice and research to help educators address today’s literacy and learning needs and challenges and to build community to sustain discussion and collaboration. After lunch we will host a networking meeting for literacy educators and stakeholder groups to engage in capacity building and foster better communication among:
- Regional Literacy Groups
- Teacher Educators & Literacy Innovation Leaders members (LIL)
- Preservice/Inservice Teachers
Keynote Speaker

Alicia D. Williams is the author of Genesis Begins Again, which received the Newbery and Kirkus Prize honors, was a William C. Morris prize finalist, and won the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Alicia D also debuted a picture book biography, Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston. And followed up with Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress. Recently, she published The Talk, which is a recent Coretta Scott King Author Honor winner about ! The Talk is about that very difficult conversation far too familiar to so many Black and Brown Americans.
Alicia shares a passion for storytelling which stems from conducting school residencies as a Master Teaching Artist of arts-integration. Alicia D infuses her love for drama, movement, and storytelling to inspire students to write. She resides in Charlotte, NC.
Questions & Information
Please email us at reading-programs@uncc.edu for questions and information.