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Education professor honored for leadership in literacy initiatives statewide

Dr. Stacey Bose

Dr. Stacey Bose, an assistant professor in Liberty University’s School of Education, received the Jones-Daly Faculty Involvement Award at the 53rd annual Virginia State Reading Association (VSRA) Conference, a distinction that recognizes college or university faculty who demonstrate involvement and leadership in PK-12 literacy programs in the state.

Part of the award’s namesake pays tribute to Dr. Jill Jones, a Liberty School of Education professor who died tragically alongside her 16-year-old son in a car crash 10 years ago.

“The neat part is not that I received an award,” said Dr. Bose, who is in her fourth year at Liberty. “The touching part was that I received an award that was given in honor of an amazing Liberty faculty member who worked in the School of Education before me.”

Bose’s professional membership includes the VSRA, the International Literacy Association (ILA), Virginia College Reading Educators (VCRE), The Piedmont Area Reading Council (PARC), and others. While at Liberty, Bose has instructed literacy method courses, including the Reading and Language Arts Practicum, Teaching Elementary Reading, and Foundations and Theories of Literacy Instruction, as well as courses in assessment and leadership.

On top of her teaching load, Bose has used her professional memberships to collaborate with local teachers and university faculty for special events. Last fall, Liberty hosted the VCRE at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre for the organization’s fall retreat, which focused on enhancing literacy statewide and brought in representatives from roughly 10 colleges and universities. In February, Liberty hosted the Ready Readers Conference in conjunction with the PARC in DeMoss Hall. Over 80 local teachers and Liberty students attended this event.

“I think it’s wonderful to partner with these organizations to be a blessing, encouragement, and support,” Bose said, who is also the acting president of VCRE. “It has also been a blessing to me to connect with other literacy professors and teachers across the state.”

Prior to teaching at Liberty, Bose worked extensively overseas and internationally. After spending three years as a Title 1 Reading Specialist at a public school in Pennsylvania, she served in schools in South Korea, Ecuador, Panama, and Brazil, where she and her husband helped start a school with the Network of International Christian Schools.

After accepting Christ into her life at age 16, Bose felt called to the mission field. However, her parents wisely advised her to gain a skill to pair with her ministry efforts. Bose chose to become a teacher and later a reading specialist.

“When I became a Christian, I knew I wanted to do something internationally. I feel that the Lord first called me to ministry and second called me to teaching,” Bose said. “He showed me very quickly that education was the way I could positively impact other people.”

“Any time the Lord gives us an opportunity to receive an award, it’s a great opportunity to give the credit back to Him,” she added. “My prayer is that God gets the glory. It’s really not about me. It’s really about Him. I just want to be faithful in the things that He called me to do.”

Dr. Bose believes that next to sharing Christ, literacy is the most important gift that teachers can share with their students. She starts and ends each semester with a challenge to her teachers in training to “give the gift of literacy” to all students that God places in their classrooms. It is her passion to help them be equipped with the skills they need to “give the gift.”

Dr. Jill Jones and her son Niko were tragically killed in a car crash in 2010. The Jones-Daly award pays tribute to the former education professor.

Dr. Bose has also served as a dissertation chair at Liberty since 2018, mentoring doctoral students through the dissertation process.According to the VSRA, eligibility for the Jones-Daly award requires candidates to be members of the VSRA and VCRE for at least one year prior to selection. Candidates should be faculty members or affiliated with a university or college for at least three years prior to the award, and they must be consistent in their support of PK-12 literacy during that time.

Dr. Bose has served as the Honors Student Committee Chair since 2017, providing assistance and guidance to Liberty honors students as they write their final thesis. One of her honor students, Ashley Puskar, was awarded the Center for Research and Scholarship’s Research Presentation award, granting funds for her to travel with Dr. Bose to the Eastern Education Research Association’s Annual Conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2019.

“Dr. Bose is an incredible blessing to all who know her,” said Associate Dean of the School of Education Dr. Michelle Goodwin. “Her colleagues and students enjoy her warm, gracious spirit as she teaches and collaborates with them. She is a gifted motivator with her encouraging coaching techniques, and I’m sure this ability is one of the reasons why she is being recognized for this award. Dr. Bose’s leadership and commitment to reading literacy initiatives have served our university, community, and state well, and we are so grateful she is being honored in this way.”

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