The Nicholas County Literacy Association was chartered in 2006 and currently has 36 members who meet quarterly.
Summersville, WV 26651
Council Contacts: Jennifer Davis & Monica Cox
304-742-5271
Visit our Nicholas County Literacy Council Facebook Page!
Co-Presidents—Jennifer Davis and Monica Cox
Secretary—Adam Rose
Treasurer—Teresa Brown
Hospitality—Kimberly Cook and Cindy Shelton
Professional Development—Julia Duffield
Parents and Reading—Courtney McClung
Membership—Tony Nichols
BRE- Teresa Conrad
CRE- Lexi Willey
GRE- Monica Cox
GCE- Lauren Walton
MNE- Tami Marks
PCE- Theresa Dennison
SES- Cindy Shelton
ZELA- Afton Kwicienski and Leigh Ann Shelton
RMS- Adam Rose, Melinda Bennett, Lisa King
NCHS- Selby McClung
CTE- Briana Waters
Tony Nichols —Strategic Planning Director
Leslie Baughman—Co-Technology Director
Samantha Murphy—Publications
Teresa Brown—Hospitality
Dr. Sarah Lee—Special Projects/Literature Fairs
The Nicholas County Literacy Association (NCLA) extends its sincere gratitude to the West Virginia Reading Association (WVRA) for two grants awarded at the 2025 WVRA Annual Conference.
Through Dr. Mary Marockie’s “Touch of Class” Grant, NCLA hosted a Teacher Appreciation Week banquet in spring 2026. The event was catered by the Nicholas County Career and Technical Center Culinary Arts program, featuring a meal prepared by local students that included grilled chicken salad, tomato bisque soup, homemade rolls, drinks, and chocolate chip cookies. The banquet provided an opportunity for members to celebrate educators, connect with colleagues, and discuss upcoming literacy initiatives and community partnerships.
NCLA also received the Cynthia Lorentz-Cook Grant to expand its community literacy parade float. Featuring the theme “Growing Readers One Page At A Time!”, the float promotes literacy and provides free books to children at local festivals and parades.
These grants have strengthened NCLA’s efforts to promote literacy and engage the Nicholas County community.
On March 2, the Nicholas County Literacy Association partnered with Save the Children, Summersville Public Library, Read Aloud West Virginia, and the Early Learning Coalition of Nicholas County to host a “Snuggle and Read” family literacy event at the Summersville Public Library.
Families enjoyed a special read aloud by Lauren Jarroll before spending time reading together in a cozy space filled with bean bags and rocking chairs. Thanks to Save the Children, each family received a soft blanket to use during the event and take home.
The evening also included refreshments and concluded with families receiving tote bags filled with books and literacy resources to support reading at home.
NCLA is grateful to its community partners and volunteers for helping make the event a success. “Snuggle and Read” demonstrated the power of collaboration in promoting literacy and encouraging families to build a lifelong love of reading together.
On August 16th, Tony Nichols & Teresa Brown, both members of the Nicholas County Literacy Council distributed books, toys, reading stickers, and literature on read-aloud at the Summersville Pediatrics Health Fair. Dog Man was a favorite among the kids, and both kids and adults alike enjoyed the reading stickers. The toys were donated by Save the Children.
This is the second year in a row that the Nicholas County Literacy Council has recognized Nicholas County Young Writers Winners. This year was extra “sweet” because one of our students Raegan Feury won first place in the state competition for the 9th-10th grade division!
Members Tony Nichols, Teresa Brown, and Cindy Shelton created the “Smart Cookie” backdrop for the students to have Polaroid photos taken. Dr. Sarah Lee provided the cameras while Jennifer Davis, Adam Rose, and Samantha Murphy handed out cookies, goodie bags, and took photos of the students to take home as souvenirs.
Tony Nichols, Teresa Brown, and Cindy Shelton came up with the great idea to honor our county Young Writers winners. They designed a background with “Smart Cookies” that displayed each winners name.
As the students came into the board office to receive their Young Writers Awards, they were greeted by Nicholas Literacy Council members and give a cookie and a small gift.
Sarah Lee provided Polaroid cameras, and Samantha Murphy took the students photos against the “Smart Cookie” backdrop. Students were given the photos as a momentoes.
The 2022 Regional Literature was held at the Waco Center at Glenville State University on November 4th, 2023. The fair was coordinated by Dr. Sarah Lee and Josie Groves, both of the Nicholas County Literacy Association. Students who earned recognition as Best of Show in their divisions were invited to showcase their projects at the annual WVRA Reading Conference at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs. Six out of the nine projects earning the title of Best of Show were presented by students of Nicholas County! Way to go Nicholas County students!
On August 12th, 2022, Nicholas County Literacy Association partnered with WVRA to facilitate a professional development session featuring Katie Garner. Many Nicholas County elementary teachers, principals, and support staff attended along with several other educators from outside the county. Nicholas County teachers received a copy of Katie’s book, Secret Stories, along with a set of companion posters to jump-start the program in their classrooms this year. Members of NCLA and WVRA were invited to attend a special luncheon with Katie to learn more about her and her amazing phonics program, based on research and rooted in the science of reading and cognitive neuroscience. Upon the conclusion of the training, teachers felt empowered to begin the new school year and share Secret Stories with their students!
On April 6th, 2022, the Nicholas County Literacy Association hosted a meet & greet with nationally acclaimed author Michael Shoulders. This event was held from 4:30-6:30 at the Nicholas County Career & Technical Center in Craigsville and was catered by the Nicholas County Career & Technical culinary arts department. This event was paid for with the $250 Dr. Mary Marockie A Touch of Class Award we received at last fall’s annual conference.
The Nicholas County Literacy Association would like to say a special “Thank You” to Michael for being our guest of honor and also to the West Virginia Reading Association for honoring us with this prestigious award!
We would like to extend a “thank you” to the Webster County Reading Association for inviting us to collaborate with them on a banquet in honor of the 2022 Young Writers Winners in Webster and Nicholas Counties.
The banquet was held on April 5th at Camp Caesar with a special presentation by national author Michael Shoulders. Italian cuisine was served. Each first place Nicholas County winner received a trophy and a certificate. Nicholas County 2nd and 3rd place winners received a ribbon and a certificate. Congratulations to all the winners!
The NCLA sponsored and judged AEW displays in Nicholas County Schools. Cherry River Elementary had the winning display. The NCLA assisted county officials with the planning of activities for the week including a “Dress Like A Teacher” day and a “Dress for Success” career day. The NCLA also facilitated the recognition program at the Monday, November 15 Nicholas County Board of Education meeting.
The family of deceased NCLA member Katherine Snyder donated all her teacher materials to Nicholas County teachers. Two truckloads and a ten-foot trailer were filled to capacity for teachers to choose. Teachers loved getting manipulatives, file cabinets, desks, chairs, teacher resource books. Children loved getting to sort through and taking home a bag of children’s books. The event was held on November 15-16, 2021 from 3:00-6:00pm at the Summersville Old Main Gym. Thanks to our members for helping set up and clean up.
Twenty-six members of the Nicholas County Literacy Association attended annual conference. Two members served on the conference planning committee. The group received three awards at the award ceremony:
