Reading — and teaching children to read — is Lauren Johnson’s passion.

For the past seven years, she’s been doing just that at Chocowinity Primary School through the Reading Recovery program.

Now she has a chance to move her talents to the statewide level, as she was recently named president of the North Carolina Reading Association.

“It’s a huge honor,” Johnson said. “I feel like it’s another way for me to promote literacy in the area and just to work with other educators across the state.”

The N.C. Reading Association provides a variety of resources for educators and students, and it “actively promotes lifelong literacy for all citizens commensurate with each individual’s unique capacity,” according to the website.

Johnson has worked at both the local and state levels of reading associations. She started with the Tar River Reading Council in 2008, while in graduate school at East Carolina University.

“(NCRA) called me and said that they had noticed all the work I’d been doing at the local level,” Johnson recalled. Since then, she has served as vice president and president-elect of NCRA.

Each year, the sitting president comes up with a theme. Johnson said she chose “Power Up Your Literate Mind.” This year’s Young Authors project will feature the theme, “Show Your Strength.”

Serving as president is a tall order, but for Johnson, it’s an exciting opportunity. She said much of her work will involve supporting local literacy efforts.

“There are a lot of teachers across our state that are really passionate about one part of literacy,” Johnson said. “It’s just really neat to work with them, and it’s all different ages.”

Johnson said she is passionate not only about literacy, but also about professional development and the opportunities there are to better oneself as an educator. NCRA is scheduled to host its 49^th-annual conference at the Raleigh Convention Center on March 18-20, 2018.

“Everybody is welcome to come to our meetings and to get involved,” she said. “We have to have dues and things to run the conference … but ultimately our goal is to give that back to the local organizations and the educators across the state.”

For more information about the N.C. Reading Association, visit www.ncreading.org.