Professional Experience
§ Literacy Consultant dba Learning Roots. Responsibilities include conducting literacy assessments, student advocacy, program planning, model teaching, creation of formative assessments to track IEP progress, as well as staff development for both professional and paraprofessional teaching staff. (2001 to the present)
§ Private tutor – Responsibilities include administration of standard and formative assessments for program planning, and progress monitoring; IEP goal creation and monitoring; tutoring; attendance at school based meetings and mentoring of both classroom and special education teachers and parents. (2015 to the present)
§ Professional Developer
§ Learning Specialist/ Literacy Lab Coordinator, Essex Town School District, Founders Rd., Essex Jct., Vt. 05452. Responsibilities include diagnosis, program planning, and Para-educator training for program assistants. Implementation of research based literacy strategies in both reading and math. Team teaching with classroom teachers in grades 3-5. Member of School Based Literacy Team. (2004-2015)
§ Learning Specialist 3-5, Essex Town School District, Founders Road, Essex Jct., Vt. 05452. Responsibilities include diagnosis and establishment of a prescriptive academic plan through intervention procedures and teacher modeling. Creation and implementation of Individual Education Plans in conjunction with other support service personnel and classroom teachers is ongoing. Extensive Para educator supervision and training. (Sept. 1983 to 1988 and 1990 – to 2004)
§ Language Arts Coordinator K-8, Essex Town School District, Allen Martin Drive, Essex Jct., Vt. 05452. Administrative Position. Responsibilities included planning and providing in-service opportunities for the implementation of the new Language Arts curriculum and design of a K-8 assessment portfolio for the language arts. Mediating parent/teacher instructional differences. Consultation and modeling of methodology and materials to district teachers. (Sept. 1988 – July 1990)
§ Assessment Specialist K-8 – Essex Town School District, Essex, Vt. Responsibilities included cooperative classroom assessments in language arts and math. Teacher training workshops on district assessment tools and diagnostic teaching techniques. Individual student assessments with appropriate special education/corrective referrals. (Oct. 1987 – June, 1988)
§ Learning Specialist K-8 Essex Town School District. Responsibilities included diagnosis and establishment of a prescriptive academic plan through intervention procedures and teacher modeling district wide. Creation and implementation of referral systems, assessment training and Individual Education collaborative planning and team teaching of specialized methodology.
§ Corrective Reading Specialist (grades 6-8) – Essex Town School District. Responsibilities included diagnosis, program planning and remediation of students in a small group setting. Coordination of remedial programs with total curriculum expectations was necessary. (Sept. 1982 – June 1983 )
§ Team Teacher (Fifth Grade) – Founders Memorial School, Essex, Vt. Responsibilities included establishment and coordination of a multi-dimensional program for 50 children so that greater individualization could occur. (December, 1974 – June 1979 and Sept. 1980 – June 1982)
§ Graduate Teaching Assistant – University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. Responsibilities included periodic classroom teaching on the college level and management of the College Reading Improvement Program (CRIP) which offered diagnosis and the establishment of remedial programs for students who needed to develop additional skills in reading and study areas. Other duties included the establishment and organization of a teacher resource area. This consisted of meeting with classroom teachers, graduate students, etc. in the field as to their needs and making recommendations for programs, materials, etc. (July 1979 – June 1980)
§ Supervised Student Teaching – Essex Elementary School, Essex Center, Vt. This experience involved daily planning and team teaching in a second grade classroom of various learning abilities, and developing new individualized programs to further meet the children’s needs. (September 1974 – December 1974)
§ University of Vermont Reading Lab School Intern – Responsibilities included assisting the director with diagnosis of reading problems and the development and use of plans for remediation. (May – August 1974)
Publications
§ Phonics and Spelling Through Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping (Sopris West 2007)
§ The Detached Syllable Inventory (Grace, 2004)
§ The Reading Test (Grace, 1990)
Other Professional Contributions
§ President, Beta Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa – an educational organization that is focused on professional excellence, leadership development, altruism, and world understanding. (2020-2022)
§ Member of Alpha Delta Kappa – a teacher honorary society (2008 – present)
§ Member of Peer Review Panel for Professional Licensure in the State of Vermont (2000 – 2005)
§ Invited by Senator James Jeffords to participate in a Senate Hearing on the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act regarding in-service training opportunities for teachers in the field of literacy. (1999)
§ Literacy Advocate and Co-author of a Reading Improvement Bill (S-106), Vermont State Legislature, Montpelier, Vt. (1993-1995)
§ Adjunct Professor, Trinity College, Burlington, Vt. – Responsibilities included planning and teaching a weekend college course entitled, “Teaching in an Integrated Setting” , which focused on helping regular educators understand IDEA and how to implement its principles in the classroom.(1991 – 1993)
§ District committees, Essex Town School District, Essex, Vt. Throughout my career in Essex I was co-chair of the Language Arts Curriculum Committee, the District In-service Committee and provided various professional development activities for my peers in the areas of literacy around the state.
§ Creator and author of Phoneme/Grapheme Mapping – a multisensory strategy for teaching the Alphabetic Principle. This strategy is included in copyrighted texts, articles and hands on activities recorded on video. (1991)
§ Creator of Sound Box Methodology and Sound Box mapping paper – a multisensory strategy for teaching the Alphabetic Principle. This method was used extensively in my classroom and in workshops for over four decades. (1983)
Community Service
§ Ice Center of Washington West Board of Directors, Waterbury, Vt. (2000 to 2006)
§ Ice Center of Washington West Capital Campaign Committee Co-chair (1998 – 2006)
§ Catechism Instructor at St. Andrews Church, Waterbury, Vt. (1996-1998)
§ Clyde Whittemore Little League, Waterbury, Vt., Which serves more than 350 children annually, ages 6-16. Served as secretary, co-chairperson and chairperson. Initiated Opening Day, Business Sponsorships and more collaboration with the Town Recreation Committee. (1993 to 2001)
§ Hunger Mountain Child Center Board of Directors. Vice President and Co-President. Instrumental in developing a pre-school curriculum for the Center and raising funds to improve the program. (1984 – 1987)
§ Waterbury Women’s Softball League (1968-1985) President (1975-1980)
§ Member of Dillingham Grange #281, Duxbury, Vt. 1966 to 2006. State Grange Princess (1970)
§ Waterbury Village Fire Dept. Auxiliary. Served as secretary and president (1983-1988)
§ Member of St. Andrew’s Parish, Waterbury, Vt. (1976 to the present)