November 25, 2025
Wheeling University Education Majors Learn from the Experts at State Reading Conference
WHEELING, W.Va., November 25 – Faculty and students from the Wheeling University Education program attended the 69th Annual West Virginia Reading Conference at Oglebay Resort recently.
This year’s conference entitled, “Reading is a Magical Adventure” provided the students with various sessions that covered engagement strategies, intervention tools and classroom management approaches tied to literacy and reading lesson ideas.
Shawna Safreed, director of Education Programs (pictured), served as one of the presenters. She led a session on the importance of sparking joy in reading through Socratic discussions. “This session encouraged teachers to allow students to use their voice in class to voice opinions and respond thoughtfully to peers through discussion-based learning.”
The six students who attended the conference “had the opportunity to learn directly from experts in reading instruction who are in the teaching field. Sessions during the conference included information on evidence-based strategies, science of reading updates and practical classroom reading techniques,” Safreed said. “Reading is the foundation to every single subject area.”
Education major Angelina Farlaino said she learned at the conference “reading should not be boring. It should be very interactive.”
Safreed explained attending this conference allowed the students to “begin to build their professional identity. It gave them the opportunity to experience professional development from reading specialists, district leaders and classroom teachers. This will undoubtedly help them in their teaching careers as they continue to grow and learn. Literacy instruction can feel overwhelming, but having the opportunity to go to the WV Reading Conference gave them a stronger instructional confidence and a very clear understanding of best reading practices. It really brings theories learned in the classrooms to real life.”