‘Sylvia’ will be staged at NIC’s Schuler Auditorium

The North Idaho College Theater Department’s fall production, “Sylvia,” by A.R. Gurney opens Thursday in Boswell Hall’s Schuler Auditorium.

The comedy revolves around a man, his dog and a midlife crisis. A couple moves to New York City after raising their kids, but the wife, Kate, is finding new opportunities and responsibility as a public school teacher, while her husband, Greg is dissatisfied with his career. He brings home a stray dog from Central Park, Sylvia, who becomes his companion.

While Sylvia offers Greg an escape from his situation, she becomes Kate’s rival for his affection and attention.

The play will be directed by NIC Theater Director Joe Jacoby and stars students Whittney Hawk of Silverton, Chris Chilton of Spokane Valley, Benjamin French of Hayden and Ariel Cansino of Post Falls.

Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Additional performances are Friday and next Saturday and Nov. 3-5. This play is intended for adult audiences. Admission is free.

Teachers attend conference

The Idaho Council of the International Reading Association met for a two-day conference on literacy Thursday and Friday at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, with educators from across the state attending to earn credits and expand their own education.

Teachers from Spokane, college professors, AmeriCorps-VISTA volunteers and students from the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University and Northwest Nazarene University were also in attendance. Some of the teachers were sponsored by their local school districts, and many had grants to attend.

Dr. Marilyn Howard, the Idaho state superintendent, was welcomed by 2000 Idaho Teacher of the Year Nancy Larsen.

Scheduled as the first keynote speaker on Thursday was Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., from the University of Texas. She is a nationally recognized speaker and the author of “Research Based Methods of Reading and Instruction: Grades K-3,” and “Reading in the Classroom: Systems for the Observation of Teaching and Learning.”

She focused on “Effective Practices for Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties,” and later was scheduled to lead a session on struggling readers.

Louisa Moats, Ed.D., was the second scheduled keynote speaker Thursday, presenting “Phonological Processing and its Connection with Literacy.” According to Larsen, phonemics deals with the sounds of language without the symbols. Moats’ discussion was centered on the connection between speech sounds, word recognition, spelling, written expression and vocabulary learning.

Moats has authored several books and journal articles, including “Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers.”

“Vocabulary and Spelling ‘Their Way’: Revolutionizing Word Study K-12” was the topic of Shane Templeton’s talk on Friday. Templeton, who holds a Ph.D., is foundation president of literary studies in the Department of Educational Specialties at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is also program coordinator for undergraduate and graduate programs in literacy studies.

Susan Davis Lenski, a professor at Portland State University, was the final scheduled keynote speaker on Friday, addressing the educators on “Strategy Instruction that Makes a Difference.”

NIC to hold baseball reunion

North Idaho College will host an All-Class Baseball reunion Friday and next Saturday.

A reception for all former NIC baseball players will be Friday at 6 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. On Saturday, former coaches and players will be honored at 2:30 p.m. in NIC’s Christianson Gymnasium, before the NIC and College of Southern Idaho volleyball match.

If you are a former NIC baseball player and would like to participate, call Patty Stewart at 769-3348.