Poplarville School District’s Dyslexia Therapist, Alena Bolin, is now a Certified Academic Language Therapist
Poplarville School District has always sought to provide a high-quality education to meet the needs of all students. Research shows that one in five children in every classroom in the United States will need help with reading, writing, and/or spelling despite having average to superior intelligence. In order to meet the needs of these students in our district, several different resources have been utilized. To ensure that reading instruction is delivered by highly knowledgeable and skilled teachers, each teacher at the elementary level has been trained in Phonics First, which is a nationally accredited Orton-Gillingham course used to teach literacy. In order to put appropriate interventions into place for students struggling with reading, writing, and/or spelling, every student is administered a dyslexia screener during their kindergarten and first grade years. Early identification and treatment is the key to helping individuals with dyslexia achieve academic success. Since most students with dyslexia need help from a specially trained therapist, having a full-time Dyslexia Therapist fills an important need in our school. Mrs. Alena Bolin taught in the regular classroom for fifteen years before she earned her graduate degree in Dyslexia Therapy from William Carey University. Since the program at WCU has received accreditation through the International Multisensory Structured Language Educational Council (IMSLEC), Mrs. Bolin was eligible to sit for the Academic Language Therapy Association’s (ALTA) Registration Exam. Upon passing the exam, she earned the title Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT). Mrs. Bolin is also a certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist through the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI), an affiliate of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Poplarville School District is honored to have a certified dyslexia therapist who is specifically prepared to work with those students who are diagnosed with dyslexia and related difficulties.
