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.
Emily Bhatti, Manager of Corporate and Foundation Relations, joined Reading in Motion in May 2011. She most recently worked at the San Diego Museum of Art as their corporate and institutional giving coordinator and secured corporate donations for the Museum’s many exhibitions and education programs. Prior to working at the Museum, she developed and implemented a planned giving program at the San Diego Symphony, which doubled membership in just two years. While in San Diego, Emily served on the founding Advisory Board for Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) San Diego Chapter and was the co-chair for the networking events committee. Emily has a bachelor’s degree in Arts Administration with a dance concentration from Butler University in Indianapolis. She is currently on the Board of Families’ and Children’s AIDS Network (FCAN) and a member of YNPN Chicago.
Donna Bogosh, Office Manager
KJ Hardy, Director of Development, began with Reading In Motion in September of 2011. She is focused on our ambitious "10,000 Students Plan," building dynamic partnerships with individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. She previously worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a portfolio manager, annual fund coordinator, and alumni relations officer. She holds a masters degree in Counseling from DePaul University (1997) and a bachelors in International Affairs and Spanish from Marquette University (1993). Her sons are students in Chicago Public Schools who caught the bug for reading at a very early age. It's KJ's goal to ensure that all children, no matter the school, catch that bug as well!
Aisling Holt, Administrative Assistant
Gaye Preston, Director of Finance, joined Reading In Motion in November of 2011. In total, Gaye has over 20 years of experience leading Finance departments of nonprofit and for profit organizations. She worked the last 16 years for Community Support Services, an organization serving individuals with intellectual disabilities in the western suburbs. There she served as Director of Finance and Operations for 14 years and President and Chief Executive Officer for four years. Prior to her work at Community Support Services, Gaye was the Director of Finance and Administration for a software company startup owned by Northwestern University. She holds her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from Northwester University and her Masters in Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Sandra Sorrentino, Director of New School Partnerships, comes to Reading In Motion from Southwest Community Services in Tinley Park, IL where she was Director of Development for a human services organization serving over 400 children and adults with various disabilities. Prior to her work at Southwest Community Services, Sandra was the School Development Manager at Reading In Motion. She introduced and sold Reading In Motion to school principals throughout the city. Prior to that, Sandra worked in corporate sales and in various not for profit administrative roles in Illinois and Michigan in the child development and child care fields. Most notably, she was the founding Executive Director for Child Care Resource & Referral for Will, Grundy, Kendall, and Kankakee counties in Illinois. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in Child and Human Development and Family Studies and a Masters of Education degree in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute.
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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.
David Sweeney, Program Manager. David came to Reading in Motion in 2012 as Program Manager for Extra Dosage and New School Partnerships. He received his BA in English from Northern Illinois University and is a passionate and voracious reader. David comes to Reading in Motion from the Schuler Scholar Program where he worked for 2 years as an AmeriCorps Volunteer and 3 years as a Program Manager. David's theatrical experience includes significant work on production teams around Chicago and select roles onstage. David is excited to be working at Reading in Motion because of his strong commitment to early reading intervention.
Jonathan Klocke, Program Manager, joined Reading In Motion in 2006 as an Assessment Rater and in 2007 helped to pilot the Extra Dosage Program. Jonathan has a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida. Prior to coming to Reading In Motion, Jonathan was active with the Injury Prevention Coalition in St. Louis, Missouri. He volunteered with building playgrounds for inner city schools, teaching children about gun and fire safety, and installing smoke detectors in high-risk neighborhoods.
Little Tom Jackson, Coach, 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.
Karina Lepeley, Spanish Teaching Coach and Data Assistant, joined Reading In Motion in July 2011. She is a native Spanish speaker who studied theater, dance and art at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She holds a BS in Wellness and Alternative Medicine at Johnson State College in Johnson, VT, where she was awarded a scientific grant to study the effects of the Alexander Technique on aerobic exercise performance. She became a certified Alexander Technique teacher in 2006 and has since maintained a small private practice incorporating life coaching. She has worked with children for over 10 years teaching in Urbana, IL; Vermont; and Chile, South America. She loves to dance, sing and compose music.
Avo Randruut, Coach, 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.
Sarah Huckabay Surrain, Spanish Program Manager/ Coach, came to Reading In Motion in August 2006 to pilot the Spanish language version of the Kindergarten curriculum. She now trains and coaches all the K and 1st Grade teachers who use Reading In Motion in Spanish. Sarah holds a BA in Theatre from Kalamazoo College, and has directed plays and taught theatre workshops in Kalamazoo, New York and Chicago. Prior to Reading in Motion Sarah was a Spanish teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School and Frances Xavier Warde School. She has traveled in 30 countries, and is currently studying Flamenco dance and Chinese.
Laura Stickle, Coach, has been working in education for over ten years and has been active in the arts since her first dance class at the age of three. After graduating from Indiana University with a Vocal Performance degree, she spent a year in Boston working as an Early Literacy Advisor with AmeriCorps. Prior to Reading In Motion, Laura spent several years in Seoul, South Korea studying Korean and teaching English.
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