Lisa Brandt

As an elementary school teacher, Brandt knows many children do not have the ability to decode words automatically as they read. In order to help these students, she developed the program, "Listen to Us Read." Fourth grade students will take headphones - bought with the grant award - and read as well as take books home to listen and follow as stories are read to them. The students will be tested at the beginning to find a base for their fluency level. At the completion of the program, they will be retested. Since the majority of the students in Deuel School come from families with two working parents, there is little time to read to the kids. Brandt thinks the impact of this different approach to reading fluency will be felt greatly by these parents. Brandt lives in Clear Lake.