Gail grew up as a camper and then counselor at a YMCA camp on the shores of Lake Erie (PA). It is here that she developed a passion for working with children. Coupled with her love of reading and learning, she also played school in her basement. Later in her professional life she would return to her true nature and become a teacher in the state of Texas. First, she attended Westminster College (PA) and then graduated from Arizona State University in 1981 with a degree in Communication and Sociology. After the birth of her daughter, her love of learning and reading surfaced while helping her daughter learn to read using “Hooked on Phonics” that she bought off the TV. Currently, she is a middle school Reading Intervention teacher in the Hays Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD), having completed 27 years of teaching in May, 7 of those years in HCISD. Gail has always worked with the at-risk student population, no matter what her teaching role. She uses her talents to help students acquire literacy skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking. She has created a foundational curriculum that facilitates growth in struggling learners, especially English language learners and students identified with disabilities.
Favorite children’s books?: “Are You My Mother” by P.D. Eastman and all of Theodor Geisel’s Dr. Seuss books, all Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, and Gary Paulsen books.