Category Archives: Teacher Heroes

With Knowledge, Wisdom

| September 19, 2019
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/with-knowledge-wisdom/

For someone who “stumbled into teaching by accident,” Nelda Reyes certainly landed on her feet, then kept on going. Now entering her twenty-third year as a teacher, Nelda recently added Wilson® Dyslexia Therapist (W.D.T.) to her professional credentials. A dyslexia interventionist in San Marcos, TX, Nelda became Wilson Reading System® (WRS) Level II Certified earlier this year, just as her practicum student, Jonathan, wrapped up Step 12 of the intensive reading intervention program. As an undergraduate studying speech communication disorders, Nelda said she became intrigued by the scie [...]

Teacher Appreciation

| June 11, 2019
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/teacher-appreciation/

During Teacher Appreciation Month in May we asked educators, "What has been one of your proudest teaching moments while using a Wilson® program?" We were elated to receive responses from more than 2,000 enthusiastic teachers from across the country. Helping struggling readers overcome dyslexia, instilling an abiding love of reading, and buoying self-confidence were among the recurring themes. “I have been teaching the intensive Wilson Reading System for 14 years,” shared New Jersey teacher, Amy Z. “Every year, without fail, my students amaze me with the progress they have made with t [...]

Advancing Professional Goals

| November 28, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/advancing-professional-goals/

In 2008, St. Joseph’s University (SJU) in Philadelphia embedded the Wilson Reading System® into its online graduate programs in special education. Over the past decade, many educators from Pennsylvania and beyond have selected this academic option to advance their professional goals. SJU’s collaboration with Wilson was spearheaded by Cathy Spinelli, former chair of the university’s special education department. The university offers four distinct master’s degree options in special education that include WRS certification. “Most of our graduate students are employed teachers,” ex [...]

Inspired by Empathy

| November 8, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/inspired-by-empathy/

Despite her own learning challenges in reading and math as a child, Evan Lefton knew at an early age she wanted to become a teacher after being inspired by a patient middle school teacher who recognized and encouraged her talent in writing. “As a child with a learning difference, I grew up in a time where there was one method, three oral reading groups (mine being the lowest), and many teachers who did not understand or have the patience for a ‘slow reader,’ she shared. “This was excruciatingly painful and embarrassing as a young girl, but it also lit my fire. I knew at an early age [...]

University of Utah Reading Clinic

| July 24, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/university-of-utah-reading-clinic/

In Utah, Michele Blake, Grace Craig, and Holly Dean are three in three million. The trio of educators at the University of Utah Reading Clinic (UURC) are Wilson® Credentialed Trainers (W.C.T.) in the expansive state of three million residents. Together with UURC Director Dr. Kathleen Brown and other Wilson-trained professionals at the clinic, they are providing intensive multisensory structured language (MSL) instruction to teachers and students from the majestic mountain ranges to the vast desert regions. Established by the state’s legislature in 1999 and housed within the university’s [...]

Teacher Appreciation Month

| May 30, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/teacher-appreciation-month/

During Teacher Appreciation Month, we asked educators to share what it means to be part of the Wilson community. We are so very grateful to have received over 1,600 poignant, thoughtful, heartwarming, and enthusiastic responses from teachers across the country! Read on for a sampling of what they had to say. My classroom is part of the Wilson community because … ... Wilson fosters confidence. When a student struggles with reading it affects their entire day. Not only do they have difficulty in language-based subjects, but also math, music, physical education, and art. In addition, outsid [...]

Celebrating Teachers & Mothers

| May 10, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/celebrating-teachers-mothers/

Wilson® Dyslexia Practitioner (W.D.P.) Holly Keple, a first-grade Fundations® teacher at a public elementary school in New Jersey, shares how the love of teaching spans generations in her family. In Holly's words: “I have always wanted to become a teacher ever since I was a little girl. My great-grandmother Gertie was the first to influence me, as she lived with us in our home and shared many of her lessons and handmade books with me. She was a special education assistant who not only passed down the love of teaching to my mother, but also instilled the passion in me. I lived in a home [...]

Marianna’s Mentors

| November 6, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/mariannas-mentors/

Determination, a supportive family, dedicated teachers, and a cadre of mentors brought first-year special education teacher Marianna Wells to where she is today. Orphaned at age 2 in her native Hungary, Marianna and her three older brothers spent seven years in orphanages before coming to Massachusetts in 1999, when their adoptive parents, Doris and Kevin Wells, welcomed them into a family that already included three sons. Being the only girl among six boys was the least of Marianna’s worries. “I came from Hungary completely illiterate in my first language.” In third grade, it became e [...]

In Appreciation of Teachers

| May 4, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/in-appreciation-of-teachers/

During our Teacher Appreciation Week Sweepstakes, we asked educators to share their most memorable moments from the field. We received nearly 1,000 responses from across the country, ranging from stories of jubilant children just learning to form words in Fundations® to the triumphant breakthroughs of struggling readers in the Just Words® and Wilson Reading System® programs.“It’s the tiny successes that have the biggest impact,” shared Julie H. “I remember the day one of my students was able to read by himself. I had been working with him for four years ... I cried, along with every [...]

Leading the Way

| April 4, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/leading-the-way/

While Allison McAvoy can’t predict the future, the veteran educator has a pretty good idea where she intends to be one spring day in 2026: celebrating the high school graduation of a student she met when he was a headstrong first-grader with dyslexia.“Some students come in eagerly and some come in kicking and screaming,” the Chattanooga, TN, educator explained about the intricacies of running a private reading center.“One boy was adamant when he arrived, protesting, ‘I didn’t sign up for this! I don’t want to be here!’ I’ve had him for two years now. He’s now in third grad [...]