Thank you to the Park Record for interviewing Dr. Ned Hallowell for this article about our community presentation on March 27th!
PC READS hosts free community ADHD talk with renown doctor
Thank you to The Town Lift for this article about our upcoming community presentation, featuring ADHD expert, Dr. Ned Hallowell.
Raising a Reader
On September 24, 2024, PC READS hosted national literacy expert, Margie Gillis, for a community presentation: Raising a Reader: Why It’s Important and How to Motivate Your Child to Read. Over fifty parents and educators attended the event, held at the Blair Education Center. Margie’s presentation covered topics including the science of reading, structured literacy, explicit spelling instruction, the role of text, and the importance of oral language. A robust panel discussion followed the presentation, discussing current reading curricula used in our local schools.
Panelists included: National literacy experts Margie Gillis and Louisa Moats, as well as local educators: Katie McGinn (PCSD Literacy Coordinator), Amy Jenkins (PCSD Elementary Director), Elizabeth Phillips (WSD Lower School Principal) and Britta Joslyn (Park City Day School Learning Support Coordinator) .
The Disruptors
In March 2024, PC READS collaborated with Park City Film to show a screening of the ADHD documentary, The Disruptors. The film follows five families affected by ADHD, giving viewers a glimpse into their daily lives. It explains the brain chemistry of ADHD, interviews experts in the field and identifies successful celebrities, athletes and business owners with ADHD. The goal is to dispel misconceptions and reframe ADHD symptoms as “superpowers.”
ADHD is not a learning disability; however, 50-60% of people with ADHD will also have a learning disability – and often, that learning disability is dyslexia. Similarly, among students diagnosed with dyslexia, about 30% also have coexisting ADHD. While dyslexia and ADHD are two distinct conditions, both run in families and their symptoms overlap – which can lead to misdiagnosis.
About 250 community members came out for the event. Following the film, PC READS hosted an excellent panel discussion.
Allegra Ford-Thomas Scholarship
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Anne Ford Scholarship
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The Truth About Reading
In March 2023, Park City READS collaborated with Park City Film to show a private screening of the new documentary about the illiteracy crisis in America titled, The Truth About Reading. As the film’s tag line states – “it’s an invisible crisis, hiding in plain sight.” The film highlights a few people who learned to read as adults and interviewed many well-respected experts about the importance of bringing the “science of reading” into both teacher preparation programs and classroom reading curricula. Following the film, PC READS hosted a wonderful panel discussion including local educators, professionals and parents.
Information about this documentary, including the trailer and upcoming screenings is available at: The Truth About Reading.

Teaching (and Learning) Reading IS Rocket Science: Guest Speaker, Louisa Moats
In October 2022, Park City READS hosted literacy expert, Dr. Louisa Moats, lead author of LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). Dr. Moats gave two presentations diving into the science of reading and explaining how this body of research guides the way reading, language and writing are taught. Her work in this area spans decades and has received international acclaim.
On Thursday, October 6th, Dr. Moats gave a free community presentation entitled, Teaching (and Learning) Reading IS Rocket Science at the Newpark Resort. She shed light on some surprising facts about how children learn to read, addressed what goes wrong when children have difficulty, and shared insights into the approaches to instruction that are most likely to be successful for all children. The following day, Dr. Moats led a professional development session for Park City School District K-3 staff to kick-off their LETRS training.
“We were very proud to host Dr. Moats in Park City. Her landmark research and lectures are considered the gold standard in literacy education,” said Park City READS Executive Director Elissa Aten. “Her body of work is the foundation that ensures reading instruction is effective for all students. In the literacy world, Dr. Moats is a superstar. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her speak at national conferences, so it was a thrill to offer this opportunity to parents and educators in our community.”

College Planning Presentations: Guest Speaker, Elizabeth Hamblet
In October 2021, PC READS invited Elizabeth Hamblet to Park City to give two presentations on college planning for students with IEPs and 504 Plans. As the author of From High School to College: Steps to Success for Students with Disabilities, Elizabeth’s knowledge is extensive and PC READS was grateful for the opportunity to host her in-person.. The topic of Elizabeth’s first presentation, which was focused on families, was Why They Change and What is Commonly Available (Or Not). The Park City High School Lecture Hall was full of students from grades 9-12 and their parents, who greatly appreciated her expert advice. The following day, professionals and educators joined Elizabeth for a virtual presentation (hosted from Park City) on Educational Evaluations: How to Make Reports More Helpful for Students Headed to College. Visit her website, ldadvisory.com, to learn more.
PC Reads serves up a live Gin and Phonics benefit
Read about our 2022 spring fundraiser, Gin & Phonics. We’ll be honoring our 2022 Elevating Literacy Award recipient, Alane Gaspari. Alane is an Interventionist at Parley’s Park Elementary School. The event also features PCHS ’99 & Artist, Chad Starling.
Switching Letters, Skipping Lines: Troubled and Dyslexic Minds
This essay was written by Hayden Miskinis, a 12 year old from Epping Middle School in Epping, NH. It was one of the top three winners in the middle school category of the New York Times Annual Student Editorial Contest.
Literacy: The Forgotten Social Justice Issue
EXCERPT: Yes, Black lives matter. But in the context of schools, as educators, as people who claim that their life’s work is for Black, brown, and disenfranchised children, we can not fully proclaim that Black Lives Matter until Black literacy does.
Prioritizing Educator Knowledge through Grassroots Activism
Inspiring article by Maria Murray, CEO and President of The Reading League.
EXCERPT: I received numerous emails from previous students once they began teaching. Their inquiries confirmed that even if knowledge of the science of reading is taught in university classes, it will likely melt away if the schools in which graduates are hired do not embrace it.
How ‘Reading Instruction’ Fails Black And Brown Children
By Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System – and How to Fix It
EXCERPT: When it comes to reading, what works is a simultaneous mix of two things at early grade levels: systematic instruction in phonics, and starting to build the kind of knowledge students will need in high school and beyond. What doesn’t work is what schools have been doing: giving a token nod to phonics while encouraging kids to guess at words, and scrapping social studies and science to focus on illusory reading comprehension skills.
Every Child Is Unique… and Every Child Has to Learn the Same Skills
“It is simply not true that there are hundreds of ways to learn to read… when it comes to reading we all have roughly the same brain that imposes the same constraints and the same learning sequence.”
— Dr. Stanislas Dehaene, Reading in the Brain (2009)