Menlo Park, CA: Lilly Coe, a 2nd grade teacher at Mason County Eastern Schools (MI), has been named the Open Up Resources Teacher of the Month for September 2021. Coe is being recognized for her outstanding work in her classroom and ongoing support of teachers across the country as a member of the Open Up Resources National Professional Learning Community.

Coe’s work with Bookworms K–5 Reading and Writing makes her one of the most innovative teachers in the country. The Bookworms K–5 Reading and Writing curriculum inspires a new way of teaching language arts by engaging students through compelling, real-world content to build equitable and inclusive learning opportunities.

Joan Foster, a colleague at Mason County Eastern Elementary School, nominated Coe for her dedication and passion. Foster shared, “Mrs. Coe is a new teacher starting her third year. She is so dedicated to her students and does a wonderful job of implementing Bookworms. She does an outstanding job making sure all children are feeling success as they learn.”

In her application, Coe described her passion for the Bookworms K–5 Reading and Writing curriculum. She explained, “Students love how they know what is going to come next in the lesson and it allows them to have that ownership of learning. They also really enjoy the books we read together from the curriculum.”

Coe praised Bookworms for its usability and design. She went on to say, “It is very easy to understand and use. It makes prep and the actual teaching very easy and all the materials you need are provided right there for you.” And she shared a celebration from her classroom and implementation: “I had a student last year who said they couldn’t read. Later into the year, students were partner reading, and he came up to me and said, ‘I can read! I just read this page!”’

Open Up Resources is a non-profit on a mission to increase equity in education by making excellent, top-rated curricula freely available to districts. You can learn more at www.openupresources.org.