Prior to founding The Reading League, Dr. Maria Murray was an associate professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, where she taught courses related to literacy assessment and intervention.  She received her Ph.D. in Reading Education from Syracuse University, where she served as project coordinator for Dr. Benita Blachman’s numerous federally-funded early reading intervention grants. Maria is passionate regarding the prevention and remediation of reading difficulty, and consistently strives to increase educator knowledge and the connections between research and practice. On a personal note, Maria is happily married to Danny and has  two children, Katie and Mark, and is also mom to her dogs Lady and Tikani. 

Dr. Jorene Cook is an Early Literacy Coach in the Syracuse City School District and part-time Instructor at Utica College. She has worked in the public school system for 23 years, her earlier years working as an elementary school teacher.  She is also a national LETRS trainer. Her doctoral research investigated how schools and school systems in Central New York support students with dyslexia and their families. Her interest in advocacy, systems thinking, and policy work led her to become a Partner in Policymaking in 2015. Jorene is the president of the Board of The Reading League. On a personal note, Dr. Cook is happily married to her best friend. They have two teens-Evan (16) and Brody (14). 

This podcast is brought to you by Great Minds. We encourage you to take a moment and view their website at https://gm.greatminds.org/trl2021podcast  

Further Reading and Exploration

• The Reading League
• The Reading League YouTube Channel
• Jorene Cook’s YouTube Channel, “In the Loop”

Maria’s and Jorene’s Picks

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
• Letter to My Son by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Make it Stick; The Science of Successful Learning by Henry Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel, and Peter C. Brown
• The Plant Paradox by Steven R. Gundry
• Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta L. Hammond