WITS Rochelle Lee Teacher Award

The Rochelle Lee Teacher Award (RLTA) is a $500 book grant. This award helps teachers further curate their classroom libraries to meet the needs and interests of their students.

What Our Teachers Say

“I would have about half the library I have, as would the entire school, if it wasn’t for WITS. I can’t describe how valuable these resources are as a teacher.”

- Joseph Pekarek, Second Grade Teacher, The Ogden International School of Chicago
Apply for the Rochelle Lee Teacher AwardThe application period for this year has ended.
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Why Classroom Libraries Are Important

Educators agree that schools play an important role in expanding access to books at home, but many teachers have fewer than one hundred and fifty books in their classroom libraries to serve all their students throughout the year—with 31% of teachers having fewer than fifty books.

According to the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), students who have robust classroom libraries are more likely to be frequent readers.

According to the National Education Association (NEA), teachers typically spend between $500 and $750 of their own money on classroom supplies each year, which includes books.

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Program Facilitators

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Sarah Hoppe Knight
Chief Program & Strategy Officer

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Daphne Robinson

Teacher Program Director

daphner@witschicago.org

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