We are the Vermont Council on Literacy. We are all volunteers committed to excellence in literacy instruction for the children of the state of Vermont.
Ellen A Thompson, Ed. D., VCL President & Treasurer
Doctorate of Education | 2007 | University of Vermont Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Masters of Education | 1986 | University of Vermont Major: Curriculum Development Minor: Literacy Bachelors of science | 1977 | University of Vermont Major: Elementary Education, K-6 Minor: Special Education, K-12
Ellen A. Thompson has been an educator for over 46 years. She taught as a classroom teacher in Vermont for over twenty years with many of those years in a multiage setting teaching children aged 6-9 years of age. Ellen was named the Vermont State Teacher of the Year in 1993 and she achieved her National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist in 1999. Ellen began consulting nationally in 1993 and has continued this work throughout her years as an educator. Upon leaving the classroom, Ellen joined the Elementary Education literacy faculty at the University of Vermont in 2000. At the University, she taught undergraduate literacy courses, supervised student teachers and also worked as a literacy consultant in two large scale literacy research projects which spanned the grades K-6. For twelve years Ellen worked with the Essex Town School District as the Director of Instruction and Information Services. During this time, Ellen completed her doctoral studies in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Vermont in the fall of 2007. After the merging of the Essex Town School District and the Chittenden Central Supervisory Union, Ellen continued working with educators in the newly created Essex Westford School District as the Director of Learning Design. Ellen is currently a literacy consultant for Partnerships in Literacy and Learning.
Books, reading, writing and communicating with others has been my life blood. It is what makes me tick. I want today’s children to understand the deep joy it brings as well as the power it commands! Our teachers need to understand the potential these children have to make our world a better place.
Carol Millett, VCL Vice President
BA, Wheaton College, 1974 Master of Education, Smith College, 1976 UVM Outstanding Vermont Teacher, 1993 Snelling Vermont School Leadership Project 2003-2004 Board Member of Windham County Reads
I live in Whitingham, Vermont with my husband and our elderly cat, Ginger Pye. Our home is a converted one-room schoolhouse, School House #5. Reading has been a passion since I was a child. I remember reading with a flashlight under the covers, and pleading with my mother to let me read “just one more chapter”.
I hope I have impacted literacy education through my 30+ years on the board of Vermont Council on Reading. Bringing expert speakers to Vermont teachers has been a satisfying part of my career. One of my main goals as a teacher has been to inspire a love of reading in my students. I joined the board of Windham County Reads because I wanted to support the programs they provided. One of our main programs was a book mobile that regularly visited day care providers and schools. We also sponsored a county-wide reading challenge each March. Literacy education is vital to our democracy because we need informed voters.
Natalie Lodge, VCL Board Member
M. Ed., K-6 teaching license
K-12 literacy specialist endorsement
Hinesburg Community School (Champlain Valley School District)
Literacy Interventionist and Coordinator
I have been teaching in public schools for over 11 years and love the work I do! I was a classroom teacher for eight years, teaching grades 2, 3, 4, and 5, a literacy coach for three years, and now I am a literacy interventionist and coordinator. I am passionate about helping students feel confident as readers so that they can enjoy reading and access any opportunities possible. I enjoy spending time outside, and of course reading, with my three children, husband, and our dog!
I am constantly trying to stay current on best practice on literacy by attending workshops, courses, webinars, reading books, and listening to podcasts. I do my best to impact literacy educator by sharing my learning with my colleagues.
I am very interested in learning how to “re-balance” the reading workshop so that students have access to multi-sensory systematic phonics instruction while also reading high-quality authentic texts with the ultimate goal being to deepen reading comprehension. I am very interested in “Shifting the Balance” by Jan Miller Burkins and Kari Yates. I am participating in a year long workshop about adolescent literacy as I will be working with older students this year and am so excited!
Billy Jo Roberts, VCL Board Member
Current position: Blue Mountain Union School, 3rd Grade Classroom Teacher
MA of Education from Lesley University CCSU Teacher of the Year
I am a wife, a mom, a baker, a reader and am passionate about teaching and learning! I am currently in my 22nd year as an educator teaching 3rd Grade at the school that I graduated from in High School. Over the years I have taught in some capacity at every grade level K-8. Not only have I had the privilege to be an educator, but also a Literacy Coach where I have worked hard to exude understanding, growing knowledge and passion for teaching and learning. I am a life long learner who is constantly trying to better myself as an educator.
Literacy education has had a profound impact on who I am as a person. As a child, my family did not value living a literate life. They read the newspaper and my mother read a novel here and there, however it was not something that they made a habit or a hobby. My mother did not graduate high school and my father left school as an 8th grader to support his family farm. Education in general was not something that was at the forefront of our family culture. It was because of my Kindergarten and First Grade teachers that I fell in love with school and learning. And for that reason, that’s why I became an educator. Knowledge is power. It give us the power to feel, to process, to grapple, to learn and to grow. Much of the knowledge I have gleaned has come from literature. As a result, my hope is to impact literacy education by giving my students the opportunity to find joy, compassion and wonder in the world of literature.
I am very interested in learning more about how as a society we can rewrite the narrative of literacy education in the United States. It is my belief that if we remove the barriers of one way or the other to teach literacy, our students will start to succeed. We need to look at our systems as a whole, and put our focus back on growing our knowledge so that we can be the best for our students. I realize that I have a lot of learning and growing to do regarding literacy education. What I do know is that I want what is best for my students and I will work tirelessly to respond to what they need. This may mean taking risks by trying a new approach. This may mean that I may fail in my attempts. I know that there is not one way to teach a child to be a literate person. And that is why I will work hard to continue growing my knowledge and expertise on how to foster literacy learning in my classroom and beyond.
Jenny Seivwright, Secretary, VCL Board Member
With a deep passion for literacy and a strong belief in the transformative power of early and effective intervention, I am dedicated to helping young learners become confident, capable readers. I bring years of experience as a literacy specialist, working directly with students in school settings to deliver targeted, strengths-based instruction tailored to student learning profiles. I especially love working with young children and enjoy making reading a fun, engaging, and rewarding part of their daily lives. I believe that with appropriate instruction, every student can develop the skills they need to succeed, opening the door to lifelong opportunities.
Currently, I am a District Literacy Coach, supporting teachers and schools from Preschool through Grade 4. This role keeps me at the forefront of best practices in literacy education and the opportunity to share that expertise in meaningful ways within my community. I work collaboratively with teachers to provide job-embedded support ensuring literacy instruction is data-informed and student-centered. Use practices such as co-teaching, co-planning, modeling, reflective conversations, and data analysis with teachers to build teacher and school capacity. Provide high-quality professional learning around effective literacy practices and the foundations of reading.
