Administrative Staff
Karl
Androes,Executive Director, co-founded Reading In Motion (founded as Whirlwind) in 1983. Karl has guided Reading In Motion's growth from its small initial budget of $10,000 to its current $1.5 million, while focusing the organization on achieving the most important result for at-risk children - grade level reading skills.
Under Karl's leadership, Reading In Motion has become known for a disciplined approach to results, utilizing rigorous outside studies of program effectiveness. Eight of these studies have now been completed. Karl was a coauthor of "Imagery-Based Learning: Improving Elementary Students' Reading Comprehension With Drama Techniques" in the Journal of Educational Research (2002). He has also been a presenter at regional and national education conferences, including the International Reading Association.
Trained as a classical musician, Karl is vice president of the board of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony. Karl was the 2003 recipient of the Benjamin Gingiss Service Award from the Illinois Humane Society.
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Karen Berman, Director of Communications, joined Reading In Motion in October of 2006. Prior to Reading In Motion, she spent ten years at Leo Burnett as an Account Director on a variety of accounts. Her work experience also includes marketing & PR for a hotel group and account management at a direct marketing agency, both in London, England as well as PR & development work for the Arthritis Foundation in central & downstate Illinois.
Karen is a co-owner of eQwip.com, a start up, online business selling bath products and accessories. She has been actively involved in her children’s elementary school. Four years ago, Karen developed and implemented of a volunteer tutoring program for struggling students. Karen has a Masters in International Marketing from the American Graduate School of International Management and a BA in Economics from St. Lawrence University.
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Donna
Bogosh,
Office Manager
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Jeree Ethridge, Director of Finance, joined Reading In Motion in July 2007. Previously Jeree was the business manager for a public school for 18 years. Jeree has a Bachelors degree in Nonprofit Administration from DePaul University and a Masters degree in Public Administration, with a concentration in Public Policy, also from DePaul.
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Sandra Sorrentino,School Development Manager, began working at Reading in Motion in November of 2006. Prior to coming to Reading in Motion, she worked in not-for-profit administration with agencies serving children and families. She established the Child Care Resource & Referral agency for Will, Grundy, Kendall and Kankakee counties as part of the United Way of Will County; was Executive Director at Streator Child Development Center in downstate IL; and was the Program Director at Elk Grove Township Community Day Care Center in Elk Grove Village, IL and The Catherine McAuley Child Development Center in Ann Arbor, MI.
Sandy has seven years sales experience. She earned her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education at Erikson Institute in Chicago and her Bachelor Degree in Child Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign.
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Jacquelyn M. Bonavia, Director of Development, joined Reading In Motion in May 2007 She has spent her 28-year career working in the nonprofit arts world in top management positions. Her broad range of development experience includes grant writing, annual campaigns, planned giving, major gifts, and special events. She most recently served as Development Director for Music of the Baroque in Chicago, a professional chamber orchestra and chorus. As Development Director for Art Resources in Teaching (A.R.T.), a visual arts education organization serving the Chicago Public Schools, she initiated giving societies, planned giving, and a major gifts campaign.
Prior to specializing in development, Ms. Bonavia served 16 years as the Executive Director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional symphony serving the Chicago Southland region. Ms. Bonavia currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master’s degree in Arts Administration from the UW Graduate School of Business.
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Sian Sutcliffe, Manager of Corporate and Foundation Relations, joined Reading In Motion in August 2007. She previously served as a Foundation Relations Officer at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Sian received a masters degree in visual arts administration from New York University and a bachelors degree in romance languages and literatures from Princeton University.
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Program Staff
Elizabeth
Johnston, Director of Program Research & Development, came to Reading In Motion in June of 1993. Since that time, Elizabeth has been responsible for curriculum development and refinement, focusing on the use of data to drive instruction and inform her writing as the author of the curricula. Under her direction Reading In Motion’s curricula and research have gained national recognition in the Journal of Educational Research (2000) and Evaluation Review (2003).
Prior to joining Reading in Motion, Elizabeth was a member of Without Shoes Modern Dance Company in Rockford. She served as an artist in residence in the Rockford Public Schools, specializing in curriculum-based arts programs for students and teachers. Elizabeth has been awarded a U.S. patent for a visual arts design. She holds a BFA degree in art and minor in dance from Rockford College.
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Amy Kirkland , Director of Product Development, started at Reading In Motion in January 2007. Prior to joining the Reading In Motion staff, she served as the Education Specialist for the Peace Center for Performing Arts in Greenville, SC and as the School Programs Administrator for The Metropolitan Opera Guild in New York City. Amy has also worked as a teacher, teaching artist and performer of arts-integrated curriculum programs for students and teachers. She received her Masters degree in Educational Theatre from New York University and her Bachelors degree in Vocal Performance from Samford University.
Tiffany
Lovell, Development Consultant, started working with Reading
In Motion in September 2003. Originally from St. Louis, Tiffany
received her BA in English Literature from Wheaton College before
moving to Massachusetts to work in the Cambridge Public Schools.
She then completed a Masters degree in Education at the Harvard
Graduate School of Education with a concentration in childhood
risk and prevention. Prior to working at Reading In Motion, Tiffany
worked on a number of educational and psychological research projects
in Boston and Chicago.
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Lisa Peloquin, Director of Programs, started working with Reading In Motion in July of 2006. After earning her Bachelor's degree in psychology at Penn State, Lisa joined Teach For America. As part of the 2001 Bay Area Corps, she taught fourth grade for three years in an under-resourced part of San Jose, California. While there she earned her Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from San Jose State University.
Upon returning to Chicago, Lisa received her Masters in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and taught in a charter school on the West Side. As Director of Programs, Lisa supervises the Program Staff and Teaching Artists as they implement Reading In Motion programs.
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Keenya Brown, Program Coordinator, joined Reading In Motion in July of 2007. Prior to Reading In Motion, Keenya served in the social service industry for three years as a Community Advocate at Riverwoods Christian Center (RCC). She created a successful college prep program to assist underserved youth in college and career planning. She also served as the primary curriculum development specialist for five teen leadership programs.
Recently, Keenya worked for the Illinois Arts Alliance (IAA) as Coordinator of IAAs 25th Anniversary Gala, Annual Members Meeting, and One State Arts Conference. In addition to her event planning experience, Keenya was an Arts Management Graduate Intern for Street-Level Youth Media. Keenya's work experience at Street-Level includes a broad knowledge base in statistics, marketing, accounting, fund raising, human resources management, and youth and community development.
Keenya received her Bachelors Degree from Wheaton College in Christian Education, and recently graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Masters in Arts Management concentrated in Arts in Youth and Community Development.
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Teacher Coaches & Teaching Artists
Penna
Brooke, Teaching Artist, joined Reading In Motion in August
of 2003. As a teaching artist, Penna has been in 6 different schools
and 28 different classrooms helping struggling readers learn to read.
She holds a BFA in dance with a minor in music from Rockford College
and a MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College in Chicago.
Penna served as Artistic Director of Without Shoes Modern Dance Co.
in Rockford from 1987 - 1992. She and her dance company organized
projects and were artists in residence teaching integrated arts curriculum.
From 1988 - 2002 she was an instructor of dance at Rockford College
in which she taught a class called "Dance in Elementary Education" offered
to Performing Arts majors and Education majors. Penna has been teaching
dance for the past 25 years throughout Rockford and Chicago.
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Ruby Flores, Teaching Artist, joined Reading in Motion in August 2007 to teach the pilot version of the Spanish-language curriculum in a first grade CPS classroom. A native Spanish speaker, Ruby is from Los Angeles. She taught bilingual classes in elementary school and high school there for six years before coming to Chicago. Immediately prior to joining Reading in Motion, Ruby was a case worker at a nonprofit agency in Pilsen. She has a Bachelor's degree in French Literature from Columbia University in New York.
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Sarah Huckabay, Teaching Artist, joined Reading In Motion in August 2006 to teach the first Spanish language version of the curriculum in a bilingual Chicago Public School kindergarten class. Prior to Reading In Motion, Sarah taught Spanish for three years at the Chicago Waldorf School. She has a BA in Theatre Arts from Kalamazoo College andhas directed plays and taught theatre workshops in Kalamazoo, New York and Chicago, but has recently focused her energy on teaching and on travel. In addition to Reading In Motion, Sarah currently teaches Spanish at Frances Xavier Warde School in Chicago.
Little
Tom Jackson, Teaching Artist, has worked with Reading
In Motion since 1989. He studied theatre and psychology at Loyola
University. Experienced in many areas of the theatre, he has appeared
in numerous productions in Chicago at Bailiwick Theatre, City Lit,
and the Off-Off Loop Theatre Festival, among other places. Little
was the Artistic Coordinator for the LaMont Zeno Theatre at Better
Boys Foundation for three and a half years and also serves
as a youth minister at Faith Tabernacle.
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Ginger
Leopoldo, Teaching Artist, has been teaching with Reading In Motion since 1998. Not only does she provide direct instruction
with students in classrooms, she also facilitates Summer Workshops
with teachers. Ginger is an actor and director involved with many
community theater organizations in Chicago and is the Artistic Director
for the Center of Immigrant Resources and Community Arts (CIRCA),
facilitating and organizing an integrated arts workshop for urban
youth. She has an MA in Theater from the University of Illinois
at Chicago.
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Ellen Magit, Teacher Coach, started working with Reading in Motion in the summer of 2006, when she began co-writing the Spanish kindergarten curriculum. During the summer of 2007, she co-wrote the Reading In Motion first grade curriculum. Ellen’s career in education has spanned more than 20 years, during which she has taught first grade bilingual general education and K-5 bilingual special education, as well as serving as a school psychologist / intervention specialist.
Ellen is particularly interested in improving literacy outcomes for Spanish speaking children in the American school system. To that end, she has written curriculum and assessment materials for struggling readers enrolled in both in-school and after-school remediation programs. Ellen has also been instrumental in writing grants, participating in planning and evaluation of dual language and bilingual programs, establishing Spanish language arts standards for the WIDA consortium and has served on state committees to improve and align the Illinois assessments for ELL students. She is currently a Reading In Motion teacher coach in several bilingual kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
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Avo
Randruut, Teaching Artist, began working with Reading
In Motion in 1991. Avo received his BA in English at Western Illinois
University and his MA in ethnomusicology at Tufts University. Avo
has worked as an independent musician, performer, recording artist,
and sound engineer since 1983 and has taught both in schools and
privately since 1986. Avo performs vocals, keyboards, percussion,
and writes for Algorhythms, which has appeared three times at the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and has toured in East Asia
and Taiwan. Formerly, Avo performed with Agbeko, a Boston-based West
African drum and dance group.
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Elizabeth
Steimle, Teaching Artist, has been teaching struggling
readers since 2002. She has a master's degree in early childhood
development from the Erikson Institute and a bachelor's degree in
English. Elizabeth has 10 years experience working with children
from infancy through adolescence as a preschool teacher, child development
specialist, and storyteller.
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Laura
St. John, Teaching Artist, has been working with struggling
readers since 1994. Specializing in Reading In Motion’s drama
based curricula, Laura has worked with thousands of CPS students
and concentrates in curriculum revision and the development of drama
materials. Laura is an advocate for the arts in education as well
as an accomplished actress. She is a collaborator on the book Through
the Cracks (Davis Publications)- a book that conveys the need
for the arts at the center of every child’s education. Laura
has been honored to share this book’s powerful message at educational
conferences across the country. Laura is a member of Actors Equity
Association and performs regularly with The Shakespeare Project
of Chicago.
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Lisa Rudin, Second Grade Coach, joined Reading In Motion in July of 2007. As a teacher coach, Lisa works with second grade teachers in various Chicago Public Schools, as they help struggling readers to reach grade level skills.
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Prior to joining Reading In Motion, Lisa taught first and/or second grade for six years in a Chicago Public School on the South Side. While teaching, she held a partnership with the Ravinia Music Discovery Program and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, was the recipient of various grants, led a study group on parental involvement, and worked with gifted students through Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development. During the four years before joining Reading In Motion, Lisa was trained in and taught the Reading In Motion curriculum to first through third grade students.
Lisa is Nationally Board Certified in Early Childhood Education and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a Golden Apple Scholar with a strong commitment to urban education.
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