Reading Bill of Rights & Commitment to Teaching Excellence

The Golden Apple Academy developed the Reading Bill of Rights for use by teachers, parents and community members to guide their efforts to ensure that all children have the resources they need to become skilled and avid readers.

Download the Reading Bill of Rights [PDF, 1 pg.]

The Commitment to Teaching Excellence, based on the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors, was developed by the Academy as a source of inspiration for professionals and a guide to new teachers.

Download the Commitment to Teaching Excellence [PDF, 1 pg.]

Back to Free Resources Page >

From the Reading Bill of Rights:

We believe that literacy is a fundamental human right, that in the global technological society of the 21st century, the ability to read is the key to equal opportunity for all and is necessary to maintaining our democratic form of government.

From the Commitment to Teaching Excellence:

I will remember that I do not teach tests; I teach students. Nor do I teach subjects disconnected from students. I will therefore use every appropriate means to build upon the capacities and interests each student brings to me, leaving those whose lives I have touched, better for the encounter and inspired by the enthusiasm and knowledge I bring to my subject and my teaching.

Penny Lundquist is a 1986 Golden Apple Fellow. She has been on the staff of Golden Apple for 17 years, and currently serves as Golden Apple's Director of Professional Development. Prior to working at Golden Apple, she was an English teacher with 23 years of classroom experience in grades five through twelve. Her interests include literacy and teacher professionalism.