LEXINGTON — As a college student, Genelle Eggerton initially envisioned a career in the corporate world until one act of service ― a short-term mission trip to Haiti ― altered her course.
While helping to build a church for residents of a mountain community, she realized her purpose was to serve others and “be a life-changer,” she said.
“Little did I know at the time that my goal to serve others would lead me to education, but it did,” said Eggerton, now the principal of Western Elementary School.
“I had a passion for children who struggled in school because in my elementary years I struggled in school. I had great difficulty reading and understanding how words worked. I wanted to make sure that others didn’t struggle the way I did in the early elementary years and could be given the keys early to find success and the joy of reading.”
To further that goal, this summer, Eggerton completed a year-long internship through Wilson Language Training to become a Wilson® Credentialed Trainer for Lexington Local Schools.
As the primary component of her internship, Eggerton worked with Wilson Literacy Specialist Donna Micklewright to train and certify a cohort of 10 teachers in the Wilson Reading System®
Developed in 1988 as an intensive intervention for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities, the program is based on the Orton-Gillingham method of instruction and is accredited by the International Dyslexia Association.
Eggerton is one of 14 educators in the country to become a Wilson® Credentialed Trainer this year.
In August, she presented a WRS Introductory Course for the district. During the upcoming school year, she will lead four more teachers through WRS Level I Certification, which earns the Wilson® Dyslexia Practitioner (W.D.P.) professional credential.
“Our goal is to build independent readers who are competent at or above their grade level,” Eggerton said.
“We want to put systems in place that help all learners and give teachers evidence-based structures to use within their classroom, in small groups, and in one-on-one settings. In order to meet these goals for students, we need to provide teachers with learning environments to gain these skills and competencies.”
As part of the WRS Level I training, teachers are paired with a struggling reader for a 65-hour supervised practicum. Teachers gain knowledge, skills, and experience to effectively teach key pillars of reading instruction using an explicit, direct, systematic, highly structured, and multi-sensory method.
They gain an in-depth understanding of dyslexia and its effect on the acquisition of reading skills, as well as how to teach diagnostically and appropriately pace students through the WRS program.
“Lexington Local Schools is dedicated to providing each student with every opportunity possible to be as well prepared as possible for whatever comes next,” said Lexington Supt. Mike Ziegelhofer.
“This includes providing our teachers with the best professional development available to enhance their efforts in helping ALL students become readers for life,” he said.
High School Intervention Specialist Becky Sarbach is among the newly certified teachers.
“This was one of the most challenging yet rewarding journeys I’ve been on within education,” Sarbach shared. “My undergrad exposure was with whole language and I had one master’s ‘class’ in phonics that was done through the mail in three weeks and was not substantial. This training rocked my world!”
By the end of the current school year, the district anticipates having 15 staff members with WRS Level I Certification, including six at Western, one at Central Elementary School, two at Eastern Elementary School, one at the junior high, and four at the high school, as well as the district’s curriculum director for grades Pre-K through six.
“Lexington believes in the science behind reading and that all components of reading as outlined by the National Reading panel―phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension―must be developed within our students through direct instruction to reach the goal of students being independent grade-level readers,” Eggerton said.
“This approach may look different for each child, but our focus is meeting the reading components in each child to develop a well-rounded, successful reader.”
Additionally, Eggerton is pursuing training this year as an in-district Fundations® Facilitator. Fundations is a foundational reading, spelling, and handwriting program for students in primary grades currently used in the school district.
As a Fundations Facilitator, she will further support effective program implementation, coach and mentor faculty, and apply data to measure teaching and learning outcomes.
Eggerton credits her students, past and present, with inspiring her to remain dedicated to supporting struggling readers and professional learning for teachers. Her career is peppered with lessons she learned from her students, including her equally dedicated practicum student.
“He was extremely bright but could not read,” she said. “He told me in third grade that he wanted to learn how to read so he could earn his Eagle Scout award. I knew not only that he would work hard to achieve his goal but would be excited that we were learning together. He helped me become WRS Level I and Level II Certified.
“He learned how to read, and guess what? He pinned me with his Eagle Scout award. I taught him how to read through WRS and he changed my life. Now I am tutoring his daughter, who shares the same struggle as he did. He recognized it right away, and we are helping her together at a young age.”
