Mary Ann Conrad is a retired language arts and special education teacher, having taught most recently in Chinle, Flagstaff, and Rough Rock, Arizona. Her involvement in Native American literacy began in the Paraguayan Chaco during the 1980’s where she helped start a preschool and taught reading classes for adults. She has worked as a writer and editor, and as a teacher loved helping students find their own voices to share in classroom publications. As a foster parent of Dine children, she made reading aloud at home a daily priority and today rejoices to hear foster grandchildren read fluently and with gusto. She continues to volunteer as a reading-writing tutor and lives in Chinle, Arizona. [email protected]