On May 12, 2008, a memo was sent from the Just Read, Florida! office to every K-12 District Reading Contact throughout the state of Florida inviting schools to participate in a professional learning opportunity for Reading Leadership Teams. During June and July, the Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence (FLaRE) Center and Reading First Professional Development (RFPD) offered thrteen two-day regional Reading Leadership Team Institutes (RLTIs) throughout the state. The goal of the RLTIs was to offer support to school teams wishing to engage in professional learning and literacy planning for the 2008-2009 school year.

Over 400 schools initially registered to send a team. The teams could consist of up to six team members and had to include an administrator and a reading coach. All teams that registered during the initial registration period were accepted and as space allowed, schools continued to sign up throughout the summer. Those that attended attended general sessions, classroom-size breakout sessions, and were provided several opportunites to meet and plan as a team. The evaluations were over-whelmingly positive and kudos go to the staff of FLaRE and RFPD that spent much more time away from home, than at home this summer.

Without a doubt, however, the RLTIs would not have run as smoothly or been as effective without the support and hospitality offered by the hostings schools. Tremendous thank-yous go to:

Amos Godby High School - Tallahassee - Leon County
Avalon Middle School - Milton - Santa Rosa County
Barbara Goleman Senior High School - Miami - Miami-Dade County
G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School - Miami - Miami-Dade County
Jefferson High School - Tampa - Hillsborough
Lake Gibson High School - Lakeland - Polk County
Lake Placid High School - Lake Placid - Highlands County
Lauderhill Middle School - Lauderhill - Broward County
Lawton Chiles Middle School - Oviedo - Seminole County
Riverdale High School - Ft. Myers - Lee County
Royal Pam Beach High School - Royal Palm Beach - Palm Beach County
St. Augustine High School - St. Augugstine - St. Johns County
West Port High School - Ocala - Marion County

The session PowerPoints and other materials from the RLTIs may be seen at http://flare.ucf.edu/FLaRE_RLTI.htm.