About Us

The Reading League Alabama

Our mission is to increase the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction in Alabama. We believe all children deserve to learn to read and all educators can learn to teach them.

Meet Our Team

Sonya Yates
Sonya YatesChapter President
Associate Policy Director of Early Literacy for ExcelinEd, President of New Heights Consulting, Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT), Certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist (C-SLDS)
Dr. Shelley Vail-Smith
Dr. Shelley Vail-SmithChapter Vice-President
School-Improvement Manager for Mass Insight Education & Research, Host of the Alabama Literacy Network podcast, President of the Alabama Committee on Grade Level Reading, Secretary of the Alabama Dyslexia Advisory Council, Board member of the Alabama Literacy Alliance
Janet Kaylor, M.Ed
Janet Kaylor, M.EdChapter Officer at Large for Networking and Engagement
LETRS Professional Learning Facilitator (LETRS 3rd Ed. & LETRS Admin); Reading and Leadership, and Former Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) Regional Literacy Specialist
Independent Consultant; Literacy, Coaching, and Leadership;
Ph.D. student, Auburn University in Educational Leadership
Rhonda Ayers
Rhonda AyersChapter Officer at Large
Rhonda Ayers is a literacy consultant and coach with passion for empowering teachers with knowledge, skills, and strategies for helping students become proficient readers and writers. She earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Troy University in Troy, Alabama. Rhonda is an experienced educator with over 30 years of service in the field of education. She has served as: a classroom teacher for grades K-3, an interventionist for grades K-12, a local and district level reading coach, an adjunct instructor for Troy University College of Education, and as an Alabama Reading Initiative Regional Literacy Specialist.

In addition to being an independent consultant for Tools4Reading, 95% Group, and Hand2Mind, Rhonda is a former state of Alabama and national LETRS facilitator, and remains a certified Dyslexia Awareness Trainer for the state of Alabama. Rhonda is the co-author of Sound Wall Solutions, a resource designed to support students in building phonemic proficiency, published by Tools4Reading and 95% Group, and has presented at multiple conferences including The Big Sky Literacy Summit, The Reading League Conference, and Alabama’s MEGA Conference. As an educator who values learning, she is a dedicated member in both The Transformational Reading Teacher Group and Dr. Stephanie Stollar’s Reading Science Academy. Rhonda is also an Explicit Instructor trainer certified by the Anita Archer Institute.

Rhonda enjoys traveling the nation and supporting educators as they deepen their knowledge of Science of Reading and Implementation Science. Rhonda often works alongside her wonderful colleague, Kayla Benak, as a partner in ABCs for Educators, an independent literacy consulting company with a focus on teacher professional learning and on-site coaching. In her free time, Rhonda enjoys spending time with her family and working on outdoor projects around the family home and farm. Rhonda’s mission is to be “salt and light” to everyone she encounters.

Corey Gant
Corey GantChapter Secretary
Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT), Senior Reading Fellow at i3 Academy Public Charter School in Birmingham, Alabama. Former Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) Local Reading specialist, and Former board of director for IDA-Alabama.
TRL

Reimagine the Future of Reading

Help us bring the science of reading to every educator, parent, and child.