A Letter from Your President

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that this is my last letter as your branch president. It has been an honor to hold that position for a two-year term. This month I will be turning the job over to my very capable successor, Nancy Redding. Many of you have heard Nancy speak at our past programs. Nancy, who has worked with learning-disabled students for over 30 years, is currently a learning specialist at De Anza College and St. Francis High School. She conducts teacher workshops on the structure of language, is a frequent instructor at Orton-Gillingham summer trainings, and has co-authored multisensory curricula. I know Nancy will serve the branch well in her new role.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge our hard-working board members, who help coordinate all our outreach activities—three programs a year, dyslexia simulations, our referral call line, teacher training scholarships, our newsletter, website, and much more. They are supported by a dedicated group of volunteers from our general membership, who make sure our programs run smoothly. Thank you all for your excellent work—volunteer work that somehow gets sandwiched into lives already filled with job and family responsibilities. Thanks, too, to Glenn Ricafrente, our terrific administrator, who keeps our branch operations running smoothly. You have all been a pleasure to work with!

Mark your calendars

We have some excellent programs coming up this winter and spring. Marcia Henry, PhD, will be speaking on "Ways with Words: Effective Vocabulary Instruction," the morning of Saturday, January 31st at The Nueva School in Hillsborough. In March, we will be co-sponsoring two workshops on the science of the reading brain with cognitive neuroscientist and child development expert Maryanne Wolf, EdD. Maryanne is the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, and also directs the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University. She will speak on Saturday, March 14, at a morning program for parents, educators, and the community. She will also present a free seminar for classroom teachers and educators the afternoon of Thursday, March 12. Both programs will be held at Palo Alto High School and are presented in partnership with the Palo Alto Unified School District and Parents Education Network (PEN). See our website and this issue for details on all these events.

Last chance to sign up for free RFB&D memberships

Do you know a student who would benefit from listening to books while reading them? One of our partner organizations, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), has asked our branch to help publicize the availability of 1,500 free one-year individual subscriptions to their computer-based audiobook. The offer, made possible by a grant, is for students in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and Sonoma. Information on how to sign up was emailed to everyone on our mailing list in December. Students can continue to sign up through January 30, 2009; check the links below for details.

RFB&D Offer to Parents
RFB&D Offer to Educators

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2009!


Leslie Lingaas Woodward