Education major Melissa Greenwald ’12 is the recent recipient of the 2011 Keystone State Reading Association (KSRA) Pre-Service Educator Grant.

The KSRA award is given to three Education majors of junior standing. Candidates are selected based on specific criteria, including an outstanding academic record, a sincere interest in reading and literacy, as well as recommendations from two education professionals based on congeniality, integrity, special honors and awards, community involvement, and school activities.

Among her many qualifications, Greenwald has served as the Education Club President since 2009 and participated in Arcadia’s  service-learning trip to Guatemala to aid Hearts in Motion, an organization that provides care and medical treatment to children, families, and communities in the United States as well as in Central and South America. Now dedicated to the cause, she is doing what she can in Glenside, buying Spanish books, and holding fundraisers to benefit Hearts in Motion.

“It was a huge honor just to be selected by my professors for this award, and I was really excited just to have to opportunity to apply,” says Greenwald. “I know that my accomplishments which helped me to receive this grant are because of my family who have always supported me and because of my Arcadia professors who presented me with fantastic opportunities and taught me what I know about teaching literacy.”