For the 10th anniversary event, Dr. Karen Verkler and interim Dean Grant Hayes hosted Carrie Morgridge, Vice President of the , who gave a special address to the teacher candidates, staff, and faculty in attendance. Ms. Morgridge explained the Foundation’s commitment to education, telling the students in attendance that they we entering “the most honorable field in the country.”

“The Morgridge Family Foundation holds teachers in the highest regard,” Ms. Morgridge stated. “You are going to be the change agents for our future kids. You are our future; you are making a difference each and every day.”

She also urged the room full of teacher candidates to “look to each other, lean on each other. Look here, to the people here” for the support, advice, and guidance that will be needed in a changing education landscape.

“The Morgridge Family Foundation has been one of the partner organizations at the forefront of advancing the field, especially here at the College of Education and Human Performance,” interim Dean said. “Ms. Morgridge has for many years shown her passion for and commitment to the improvement of education, and that enthusiasm and hope for the future were evident in her presentation to our HAPPY Hour Student Showcase attendees. It is a wonderful gift to have an ally that believes in and works towards the advancement of education in partnership with our faculty, staff, and students.”

Ms. Morgridge’s philanthropic efforts focus on all fields of education, including science, arts, mathematics, and more, including gifts to several colleges of education (UCF being among them). Her experiences with the Morgridge Family Foundation led her to recently publish a book, “,” which relates stories about the power of charitable giving, from the smallest contributions to larger foundation efforts. The book also touches on how strategy and networking can make even small donations exceptionally effective. In recognition of her many projects focused on developing future generations of teachers, the College of Education and Human Performance presented Ms. Morgridge with the inaugural Luminary Leadership Award, which is conferred annually to individuals and organizations that inspire and influence the transformation of education.

“We’re growing, inventing and creating. We are thrilled about our investment in UCF,” says Carrie Morgridge.

The center’s Millennium Gallery—with its state-of-the-art videoconferencing screens—will enable teachers and scholars worldwide to collaborate virtually.

Editor’s note: Did you know that 42 million adult Americans and an estimated 774 million people worldwide can’t read?

The center’s work will:

• Collect and disseminate educational information based on research

• House a comprehensive collection of reading initiatives from around the globe

• Serve as a communication hub for stakeholders from states, countries, associations, organizations, foundations and individuals committed to reading excellence

• Provide opportunities for professional learning

Literacy Facts

• Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion a year

• 42 million adult Americans can’t read

• 50 percent of American adults can’t read an eighth-grade-level book

• 20 percent of American adults are functionally illiterate and read below a fifth-grade level

• Worldwide, approximately 500 million women are illiterate, making up two-thirds of the adult population that cannot read

• One billion children and adults, approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, lack basic literacy skills

The Buzz

We get excited about teaching and education because UCF educators’ best practices show they understand the whole child and the whole process. It isn’t simply one program for one child, but many things together that make a difference. That’s why we all have to collaborate. We are thrilled about our investment in UCF.

– Carrie and John Morgridge

This Center could make a real difference in the world. The Morgridge International Reading Center has the capacity to identify important issues, solve problems, and ultimately make a difference in literacy for adults and children.

– Gay Su Pinnell, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą

You are developing a unique place with a unique mission-a place rich in resources where teachers, researchers, scholars, and parents can meet and study, and a mission that reaches across continents and countries to address global literacy issues.

– Sean Walmsley, Professor, State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of New York at Albany

The Morgridge International Reading Center can truly offer solutions, not merely detailed descriptions of the problems.

– Don Deshler, Professor, şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Kansas

There is so much we could learn by looking across cultures and languages. I’m looking forward to your understanding of how children in all cultures come to be literate beings.

– Carol Vukelich, Professor, şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Delaware

The gift of reading is special. The Morgridge family has made a generous contribution to the UCF College of Education so that professionals in the college may teach this special gift to others.

– John C. Hitt, President, UCF

Under the leadership of President John Hitt and the guidance of Dean Sandra Robinson, we see a long relationship with UCF. We want to see our money spent wisely, and UCF does a great job of maximizing every penny.

– Carrie and John Morgridge

The gift is eligible to be matched by the State of Florida. But we need your help to make the center happen. Please contact us at 407-823-2140.