NEISD students with Dyslexia 'Take Flight' in new District program

Gabby Woolard, an Instructional Interventionist at Stone Oak Elementary, loves teaching her K-5th students all about words.

“At the elementary level, the Instructional Interventionist’s main job is to support those students that are at-risk. That includes children with Dyslexia as well as children that are just having some struggles with foundational reading skills,” Woodard said.

She is one of twelve teachers in North East ISD selected to participate in a unique Dyslexia-therapist training program called Take Flight.

“The Take Flight program is a unique program for teaching children how to read. It was specifically designed by the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital For Children. The program is comprehensive, it’s cumulative, and it’s sequential, which is ideal for teaching children with Dyslexia,” Woolard said.

Take Flight is in its first year at North East ISD. The twelve teachers in the program have already completed over 100 hours of training.

“Graduates of this program are eligible to continue their education and become certified at the therapy level. That is an additional certification that North East has offered us with this opportunity,” Woolard added.

Students like Noah Balboa and Brylie Martin learn how words are constructed and why they are constructed that way.

“We are learning sounds of the letters; we want to become better at writing,” Noah said.

“We want to better at punctuation,” Brylie added.

“They are more confident in knowing the sounds for letters. They feel more confidence in being able to apply that sounds in letter relationship in spelling words. In turn, that’s going to help them all overall be successful everywhere,” Woolard said.

Ms. Woolard has been in education for twenty years. She said she loves it.

“What I love about being an educator is that I have a chance to add a little bit more to each kid’s life. They not be my own personal children but I can help them grow and share something with them that will last for a lifetime,” Woolard said.

The Interventionists from the 12 schools were selected from the following campuses:

White MS
Stone Oak Elem
Hardy Oak Elem
Encino Park Elem
Redland Elem
Bulverde Creek Elem
Huebner Elem
Fox Run Elem
Roan Forest Elem
Larkspur Elem

There are also two traveling interventionists that visit multiple middle school campuses.

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