Congratulations, 2026 Scholarship Winners!

2026 Jeanie Larson Dobbins Scholarship Winner: Christy Pyle

Christy is a reading interventionist at Orchard Hills Elementary in Willard School District who is committed to helping her students become a confident and successful readers. This conference will help her continue growing professionally and let her bring valuable strategies and resources back to her students and colleagues. "I hope to gain practical strategies that I can implement immediately in my reading intervention groups to strengthen students' literacy skill and build their confidence. I also look forward to collaborating with other literacy professionals and learning new ways to make instruction engaging, purposeful, and effective for all learners."

2026 Jeanie Larson Dobbins Scholarship Winner: Monica McVey

This is Monica's fourth year as a Reading Interventionist for Robinson School in Aurora. Her role has expanded from 3rd and 4th grade to include 5th and 6th this year. Monica sees the wide range of reading abilities and needs and wants to expand her knowledge of evidence-based reading instruction and intervention so she can provide each student with targeted reading instruction. "Receiving this scholarship would give me the opportunity to learn from experts, discover new strategies and resources, and bring that knowledge directly back to my students and colleages...I am eager to continue growing as an interventionist."

Linda Dorn Scholarship Winner: Katie Smith

Katie is an Instructional Mentor for Columbia Public Schools and the ELA Kindergarten Curriculum and Professional Development Lead. She has learned from Julie Schaefer, ELA Coordinator, Stephanie Maddox, Reading Interventionist Team Leader, and Title I Reading Interventionists. She said that they are her heroes!  "Attending the 2026 LitMO Conference would allow me to continue learning from Jen Burns and other literacy leaders and bring that learning back to my two buildings of 33 teachers and 70 total kindergarten teachers in the distirct. . . I would translate new knowledge into meaning professional development, stronger instructional practices, and collaborative support for educators - ultimately helping more of our students develop the skills and confidence to become successful readers."

2025 Conference Survey Winner - Drawing for 1/2 off registration in 2026