FOR RELEASE     #08-095
April 28, 2008

WHITEHORSE - The Department of Education is pleased to announce the arrival of Wilson Reading Trainer Connie Bartlett from New Mexico. Bartlett is here to continue the training of 13 Yukon teachers in the reading program and will be returning at the end of May for the final session.

The Wilson Reading System specifically addresses the learning style of students with a language-based learning disability such as dyslexia, but it can also be beneficial to students lacking basic reading and spelling skills. Up to 20 per cent of the general population has difficulty with reading that Wilson Reading can address.

“Expanding the Wilson Reading System in Yukon helps meet our objectives of improving literacy and improving the quality of life for Yukoners,” Education Minister Patrick Rouble said.

The Wilson Reading System has assisted students who were so challenged they faced dropping-out of school. With this intensive, long-term program, some of these students have gone on to university. The goal, with a few years of intensive training, is that the students will have reading strategies to learn independently in the regular classroom without special assistance.

The certification program includes coursework and supervised work with a student for a minimum of 60 lessons of instruction during Level I training and 100 lessons plus 20 hours for Level II training. Level I instructors can do individual instruction with students, and Level II instructors can teach small groups as well as higher level reading skills.

Bartlett was the first trainer in Yukon, presenting the overview of the program in 2003, and Yukon is the first jurisdiction in Canada to train teachers and use Wilson Reading. Bartlett has been training Wilson Reading teachers since 1996, and her expertise has taken her across North America. She has worked in many native communities, including the Zuni Native Americans, who still speak their native language and learn English as a second language.

Education has trained 42 teachers from 19 schools at Level I and 17 teachers at Level II instruction since the training began in 2005 and will be continuing to offer the training beginning again in September.
Yukon teacher Beverley Avano, of Christ the King Elementary School, is in the process of completing her studies to become a Wilson Reading Trainer, and anticipates completing the process in September. At that time, she will be qualified to train more Yukon teachers to become Wilson Reading teachers. Avano was a member of the first group of teachers in the territory to be trained in Wilson Reading. Two years ago, she received the Sharon Parks Award for being an outstanding Wilson Reading teacher in training.

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