School Specialty Honors 10 Outstanding Educators With 2012 Robert G. and Eleanor T. Hall Scholarship Awards

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We are honored to be a part of these dedicated educators’ paths in finding ways to help every student succeed and to advocate for them within their school systems and communities.

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) October 24, 2012

Ten educators from across the country and Puerto Rico – all passionate about their work with students with dyslexia – are attending the International Dyslexia Association’s (IDA) 63rd Annual Conference in Baltimore this week as recipients of the 2012 Robert G. and Eleanor T. Hall Memorial Scholarships, sponsored by EPS Literacy and Intervention, a division of School Specialty. Created to honor the founder of EPS, now part of School Specialty, and his wife, Eleanor Thurston Hall, these scholarships reward exemplary educators for the innovative instructional strategies they use to help their dyslexic students achieve at the highest levels.

As headmaster at Manter Hall School in Cambridge, Mass., Robert G. Hall founded EPS in 1952 to share quality literacy materials created by his faculty with other teachers around the country. He and his wife spent more than 60 years promoting and improving education, particularly for dyslexic children, through their involvement with the Orton Dyslexia Society, which became the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). The annual IDA Conference is attended by more than 3,000 teachers, educators, administrators, reading specialists, researchers, university faculty, psychologists, physicians and tutors and is considered the premier professional development conference dedicated to dyslexia. This year it is accompanied by an Inaugural IDA Conference for Parents.

All successful scholarship applicants submitted essays describing where and how they encounter dyslexia, their experiences and knowledge about teaching students with dyslexia and other related learning disabilities, how the conference sessions will improve their abilities as an educator and how they will be able to apply the knowledge they gain from attending the IDA conference.

“All of the recipients of this year’s scholarships have a deep interest in helping students with dyslexia reach their highest potential and graduate ready for success in college and in life,” said Rick Holden, President, EPS Literacy and Intervention. “We are honored to be a part of these dedicated educators’ paths in finding ways to help every student succeed and to advocate for them within their school systems and communities.”

The 2012 Robert G. and Eleanor T. Hall Memorial Scholarship recipients and their plans for using what they learn at the IDA conference follow:

•     Lois Bartelt, resource specialist, East Coloma Elementary School, Dixon, Ill., plans to attend the conference to learn new ideas and techniques to boost reading success with her students, and to share her knowledge among the faculty at her school, particularly those providing Response to Intervention services.
•     Tracy Brazda, secondary-level instructional specialist, Carmel Clay Schools Educational Service Center, Carmel, Ind., has had great success with helping students with dyslexia and, after attending the conference, is planning to offer workshops to local teachers to help spread the word about dyslexia and tools that teachers can use every day in their classrooms.
•     Monica Cox, language teacher and tutor, The Chandler School, Simpsonville, S.C., brings her personal experience in working with her dyslexic son to her profession and looks forward to expanding her knowledge to help students with dyslexia and sharing what she learns with her colleagues.
•     Sharon Crissman, resource room teacher, Johnstown Christian School, Windber, Pa., plans to use practical ideas she learns at the conference to help her grades 2-8 students with a wide variety of learning needs find success, and to learn more about the science of dyslexia.
•     Amy Lang, teacher, Saint John’s School, San Juan, Puerto Rico, tasked with ensuring her students are fluent in both English and Spanish, sees the additional burden on those with dyslexia and plans to use what she learns at the conference to help them find success.
•     Katrina O’Connor, K-2 learning support teacher, St. Gabriel School, Charlotte, N.C., works with struggling readers and is looking forward to enhancing her knowledge of dyslexia and sharing what she learns with her colleagues to help students across the school system.
•     Deborah Rogers, fifth-grade math teacher and Homework Academy facilitator, Riverside Presbyterian Day School; and private tutor, Jacksonville, Fla., has a personal interest as well as a professional one in dyslexia, and plans to share information learned from the conference with her son, who has dyslexia; his school’s learning specialist; students, parents and faculty at her school; and with her tutoring students, their parents and teachers.
•     Bernadette Ross, resource specialist, Blue Oak School, Chico, Calif., plans to apply the latest research-based instructional methodologies she learns at the conference to her work with her students and twin sons with dyslexia.
•     Melinda Shorday, apprentice school leader, Mastery Charter Schools – Clymer Campus, New Hope, Pa., who works in one of the country’s lowest income communities, where a quarter of the students are identified with a disability, is excited to attend the conference to learn about new studies, information and approaches to learning differences.
•     Lisa Whitis, reading instructor, the Children’s Dyslexia Center; and early childhood/adult education teacher at Riverton Elementary School, Gorham, Maine, changed careers to help students with dyslexia after her son’s diagnosis, and is looking forward to expanding her knowledge of the neuroscience of reading, learning new techniques to help adult students with literacy, and sharing what she learns with colleagues.

EPS Literacy and Intervention gives K-12 educators powerful instructional tools that deliver high-quality materials in the most effective modality for each struggling student. The company’s reading and math intervention systems combine the power of effective teaching with computer-based learning and data-driven decision-making. From screening to intervention, progress monitoring, reporting and professional development, EPS offers an integrated approach to RTI that simplifies every stage of the process.
For more information, visit eps.schoolspecialty.com.

About School Specialty, Inc.
School Specialty is a leading education company that provides innovative and proprietary products, programs and services to help educators engage and inspire students of all ages and abilities to learn. The company designs, develops and provides pre-K-12 educators with the latest and very best curriculum, supplemental learning resources and school supplies. Working in collaboration with educators, School Specialty reaches beyond the scope of textbooks to help teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators ensure that every student reaches his or her full potential.

Accelerated Learning’s major products include: Wordly Wise 3000®, Academy of READING®, MCI, S.P.I.R.E.®, Path Driver for Reading™, Path Driver for Math™, Premier™ Agenda, Delta Education™, FOSS®, CPO Science™, Frey Scientific®, Think Math!™, and SPARK™. Educational Resources proprietary brands include: Education Essentials®, Sportime®, Childcraft®, Sax® Arts & Crafts, Califone®, abc®, Abilitations®, School Smart®, Classroom Select™ and Projects by Design®.

For more information about EPS, a division of School Specialty, visit eps.schoolspecialty.com or http://www.schoolspecialty.com.

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