(Left to right) Obama Library Award committee chair, Jen Brooks, author Jason Reynolds, and Julian Middle School teacher Nora Flynn
Nora Flynn, Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) interventionist and literacy specialist at Julian Middle School, has been named the winner of the 2022 Barack Obama Library Award by the Illinois Reading Council (IRC).
Created in 2006 through a gift to the IRC from (then) Senator Obama, the award provides the winning teacher with a $1,000 collection of books that are culturally relevant and inclusive, representing Black and brown characters and cultures.
Flynn has been a middle school literacy specialist for six years, four of which have been in District 97. She is the first MTSS literacy interventionist at Julian, where she serves striving readers and builds structures of support in her six dedicated Strategic Reading support classes, two at each grade-level.
“The classroom library is a tool that supports readers' choice and voice,” Flynn said. “We have great libraries in our community, but to have one in the place where you are working hardest to read is powerful.”
Equity is deeply embedded in the MTSS framework — which seeks to provide a set of systems, structures, and practices teachers use to build a positive, equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students. Flynn encourages her students to check out books for as long as they need them, leave three-word reviews for future readers when they’re done, and then check out or request a book or genre to read next.
“Students of color and students whose families qualify for free or reduced lunch are disproportionately represented in our MTSS Reading classes,” Flynn said. “Our district is working hard to address this issue of equity, and one way I contribute is by ensuring that our readers have access to culturally relevant reading materials that reflect and extend their experiences.”
As an MTSS literacy interventionist, Flynn’s lessons are designed to meet her students’ individual academic needs based on data, which means they get exactly what they need to build the foundational skills necessary to access grade level standards and curriculum.
As for the new nonfiction titles that will support this learning, Flynn and her students are most excited about the young reader’s edition of “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, “Becoming Kareem” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and compilations like “The Undefeated” by Kwame Alexander. Students will also now have easy access to multiple copies of popular graphic novels like “New Kid” by Jerry Craft and adaptations like “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds, books that are constantly checked out from her classroom library.
Above all, Flynn hopes the new books will serve as quiet, but mighty reminders to her students that, “this classroom belongs to them, they can see themselves in the story, and know that reading is theirs, too.”