Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Region 1

• Callie Luker

Callie is an elementary special education teacher with licensure in both General and Adaptive Special Education. She has taught learners of all ages in the NC Public Schools for 16 years. Callie is an active member of the Council for the Exceptional Children and has delivered multiple workshops.  While employed by the Edenton Chowan Public Schools, she was recognized as a Teacher of Excellence and named Teacher of the Year.  She was also recognized as Mattamuskeet Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2019 while serving as a Special Education Teacher. Callie is passionate about empowering administrators and teachers and believes in the importance of using a multisensory approach when teaching reading. She also believes that every person given the right strategy on a consistent basis can learn to read. Above all Callie believes that learning to read should be fun and accessible to all.              

Region 2

• Nikki Snow, Vice President

As an educator and parent, Nikki has a passion for promoting the understanding of the best practices in education that support the needs of all learners, but specifically those learners with dyslexia. In her 21 years in education, Nikki has worked as a literacy coach, reading specialist, tutor, mentor, and classroom teacher. She is currently the Associate Director of The Hill School of Wilmington where she also serves as the Tutoring Program Coordinator and a classroom teacher.  Nikki and her husband Matt reside in Calabash, NC.  She has three children, a step-daughter Kara (23), son Tanner (19), and daughter Jadelyn (16).

• Courtney Hurlbutt

Courtney Hurlbutt received her B.A. in Child Study (Birth-6th Grade in General Education and Special Education) at St. Joseph’s College. She has worked for New Hanover County Schools for the past 16 years as a Special Education Teacher, district Special Education Liaison and her current position of Special Education Reading Curriculum Specialist. She currently just renewed her National Board Teacher Certification in 2022. She is a Reading Research to Classroom Practice Instructor, trained in Orton Gillingham as well as a Dyslexia Delegate. As a lifelong learner, she enjoys sharing her passion and expertise in reading as she provides professional development and coaching to teachers in her district.

Region 3

• Wendy Goings

• Anna Britt Harty

Anna Britt Harty received her B.S. in Special Education (General Curriculum) from Appalachian State University and her M.Ed. in Reading Education from UNC Charlotte. Anna Britt was an Exceptional Children’s Resource Teacher at the elementary level for five years before transitioning to the General Education setting. She currently teaches Second Grade in Durham Public Schools. Anna Britt is currently on the tutoring staff for Hill Learning Center and is a 95RAP (previously HillRAP) Level II Instructor. Anna Britt is passionate about empowering students with learning differences and advocating for them and their families. 

Region 4

• Laura Britt, Treasurer

Laura is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She has her BS in Special Education and a Masters as a Literacy Specialist. From January 2010 – September 2016  she served as Instructional Strategies and Literacy Consultant for NCDPI in the Exceptional Children’s PIPD department for the Sandhills region. Previously, she was an EC Resource teacher for 12 years and an EC Program Specialist for Scotland County Schools. She has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2001, renewed in 2010, and maintained her certificate in 2021. She serves as a NB mentor to current candidates and renewals. She has been an NCSIP-Reading Research to Classroom Practice (Reading Foundations) Instructor since 2003. She was a certified trainer/coach for Keys to Literacy: Comprehension Routine (K-12) by Joan Sedita. She retired from NC in 2016, but currently works as a Reading Coach in South Carolina. Laura currently serves IDA NC on the Executive Board as Treasurer. 

• Dr. Gretchen Robinson

• Laura Dendy

Region 5

• Aimee Gandee, Secretary

Aimee Gandee holds her B.A. in Special Education and M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education both earned from the University of Florida. She has taught in public and private schools, in both general education and special education settings. In her current role as Director of Educational Outreach and Wilson® Credentialed Trainer at Noble Academy in Greensboro, NC she supports teachers in their instruction of students with Dyslexia and provides training in The Wilson Reading System® nationally. She is passionate about working with children with special needs and their families She brings 24 years of experience as an educator and parent in the special needs community to IDANC.

• Kolleen Sullivan

Region 6

• Darci Carter
  

Darci earned her BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY and her Specialist Degree in School Psychology from Winthrop University. After graduating from Winthrop, she worked in a variety of schools within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, not only as a School Psychologist, but also as a School Counselor for 7+ years. Currently, and for the last 10+ years, she has provided educational advocacy and consulting for Southeast Psych. Through her own professional and personal experiences (raising 2 daughters, one with a diagnosed learning disability), Darci helps to simplify the Special Education and 504 processes for parents, while advocating for their children’s rights. In addition, she assists current Charlotte families and those relocating to the Charlotte area, with finding schools that fit their child’s educational/learning needs. Darci is an IDANC board member as well as a committee chair.

• Kyla Crews 

As the reading specialist for my school, I believe that it is part of my role to consistently obtain/expand on any knowledge as it relates to literacy/language instruction. This supports my instruction/interventions for my students as well supports the knowledge I deliver to other educators. I believe becoming a candidate for board membership will deepen my knowledge on dyslexia. This will then help me in spreading awareness, educating, and supporting teachers, colleagues, and students.

• Trina O’ Connor

Trina O’Connor received both her B.A. in Elementary Education and her M.Ed. in Reading Education from UNC Charlotte. Trina has worked in public, private, and independent schools in Ohio and North Carolina for over 20 years. Currently, Trina is the Lower School Division Head at the Fletcher School in Charlotte. Trina’s passion for educating and supporting diverse learners stems from personal experiences watching family members struggle with learning to read, write, and spell. She saw their struggles and wanted to be someone who could make a difference in the lives of those types of learners.

• Debbie Broxterman

 Debbie Broxterman has taught children with special needs in Early Childhood classrooms for 13 years and has provided language awareness workshops for teachers during that time. She has also worked as a tutor and consultant for families of children who are struggling with reading and became a Certified Member of the Orton  Gillingham Academy in August.  She currently teaches at The Fletcher School and is passionate about helping every child reach their full potential.  

• Chandler McIntyre

Chandler McIntyre received her BA in English from Columbia College, Columbia, SC. She has tutored privately for 9.5 years and is a Certified Level Member of the Orton-Gillingham Academy.  She also worked as a volunteer tutor with the Augustine Literacy Project in Charlotte, NC.  Currently, she teaches First and Second Grade Orton-Gillingham-based Language Arts classes at The Fletcher School in Charlotte, NC.  She believes deeply in the Orton-Gillingham Approach to Literacy and the positive impact that structured literacy has on all children and families.

• Laura Freeman

After graduating from NC State, Laura Freeman worked for 13 years as a corporate banker. She discovered the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) approach while serving as a volunteer tutor with Augustine Literacy Project. She switched her career to education in 2011. She is certified as an Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA) Associate and is pursuing the next level of OGA certification. She is also certified as a CERI Structured Literacy Dyslexia Practitioner. Laura is a private literacy coach and advocate for children of all ages. She also works for Key Learning Center as a Language Coach for OGA practicum trainees. Laura lives in her hometown of Charlotte. She is the founding Vice President of The Reading League North Carolina.

• Shirley Cook

Shirley Cook received her B.A. in psychology at the University of South Carolina, a Masters’ degree from Queens’ University, and is a Classroom and Associate Member of the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. She taught in the classroom setting for 18 years where she developed a passion for helping children learn, and trying to figure out what may be the issue when learning becomes challenging.  She is currently working one on one with students with learning differences and/or ADHD. She enjoys building strong relationships with her students and their parents, as well as seeing the students’ hard work positively benefit their school performance and confidence. She believes that everyone can learn and learning can be and should be fun!

• Alyssa Wood

• Anne Bowman

Anne Bowman is deeply committed to advancing equity in education, with a firm belief that every child deserves the right to read. Over the past five years, she has pursued specialized training to better support students with dyslexia and other reading challenges. In 2019, she completed her Associate Level Orton-Gillingham certification, and in 2022, she earned an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Reading Education. Anne’s experience spans roles as a classroom teacher, private literacy tutor, reading interventionist in a local public school, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Most recently, she worked at Augustine Literacy Project-Charlotte, where she developed curriculum for volunteer reading tutors, helping to expand access to effective literacy instruction.

• Kristin Sinclair

Kristin Sinclair graduated from West Virginia University with a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s Degree from East Carolina University in Special Education with a Graduate Certificate in Assistive Technology. She has spent her career in the service of others and seeking ways to have the greatest impact for students. Kristin believes that it is our duty as educators to see to it that every student learns to read, including students with disabilities. Over the course of the last 23 years, that goal has led to her supporting schools in a variety of roles from teacher to coach to district leader to adult educator. In addition, Kristin has supported the education of teachers and administrators across the nation through Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training while building and expanding their capacities as teachers of language. Kristin is very passionate in her desires to impact pre-service teachers and ensure they have the skills and tools to provide the best educational opportunities for all students within their classrooms.  She continues to strive to further cultivate her skills to support and prepare our educators entering the field as ’game changers’ for exceptional learners and the families that they will support.

• Beth Weaver

Beth Ryan Weaver was born in Buffalo, New York, and received a degree from Bowling Green State University, in Special Education with a specialty in Learning Disabilities and Developmental Handicaps. Shortly after college, she moved to Charlotte North Carolina where she got a teaching job in the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system.  In her first year teaching, she taught in a self contained behavior and emotional classroom and then went on to teach kindergarten, and finally spent about 13 years in the resource room, setting, serving as a lead special education teacher. After that, she went on to teach at Charlotte Latin school, a private school, where she’s been teaching in the learning resource room for the past eight years. She has two beautiful daughters, and they go to work with her every day as they are all at Charlotte Latin. During her time at Latin, she’s received her Associate level Orton Gillingham certification and finally last year she reached the Certified level. She has a successful private tutoring business on the side where she’s helped multiple students throughout Charlotte learn how to read and spell. The latter is honestly, probably her favorite thing to do because she gets to work with students and families and help them reach the potential that they may not have thought possible. The best part of her job is at the end of a year of teaching a student, she is able to show her students and their parents  where they were reading and spelling when they first started working with her and where they are now. It never gets old seeing the unbelievable growth that these students can reach through the Orton Gillingham methodologies.

Region 7

• Sara Gray Horne

Sara Gray Horne received her BA in Elementary Education and MEd. in Special Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an Instructor of Therapy (Level 4, IMSLEC) and a Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist (CERI). Sara Gray has had many roles at Hill Learning Center over the course of nearly four decades including teacher, level coordinator, Director of Studies, and trainer/project manager and currently Directory or Literacy and LD Professional Learning. Sara Gray is passionate about mentoring teachers who are working with struggling readers.

Region 8

• Nancy Coffman,  Past President

Nancy Coffman has proudly served students with dyslexia and related disorders for over 30 years. She first taught middle school students at the Shelton School in Dallas, Texas, and then transitioned to delivering certificate level instruction in Structured Literacy to teachers across the country. Though recently retired, Nancy continues to consult and provide training in Structured Literacy techniques. Nancy has served as a board member for the International Dyslexia Association, as president of ALTA and of the Alliance board, and as a board member of IMSLEC. She is a Certified Academic Language therapist (CALT) and Qualified Instructor (QI). Nancy is the proud parent, sister, daughter, and potentially grandmother of individuals with dyslexia. These individuals ignited her passion for serving students who learn differently. Nancy lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

• Candi Sellers, President

Candi Sellers received her undergraduate in Elementary Education and Master’s degree in Special Education: Mild to Moderate Disabilities. She has taught in public, private, and homeschool settings. Candi is an Accredited Training Fellow with OGA, CALT-QI with ALTA, SLDS with CERI, and a North Carolina licensed teacher. She currently trains individuals in the Orton-Gillingham Approach, tutors individuals with learning differences, and consults with educators and families. Candi enjoys working with learners of all ages, providing support to families through their journey, and creating resources that can be easily implemented to support the success of students. As a lifelong learner herself, serving with IDANC allows her to grow, lead, and spread awareness.