ABOUT us
Our hearts desire is to make reading a gift to all! Currently it is not. As retired teachers, we have partnered to improve literacy through writing curriculum, training and coaching teachers, supporting school administrators, and working with minimally literate adults. We are grateful for the many opportunities we have had thus far, to work with excellent teachers and administrators as they establish excellent literacy foundations for young children and improve the skills of older students. Our journey continues as we work to provide the gift of reading to all. We hope you will join us.
Dorothy Kardatzke
I live with my husband in Columbus, Ohio. I taught for more than 25 years in both general education classrooms and in classrooms for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Since 1997, when I was first trained in the English code, all my literacy instruction has been delivered using programs that are Orton-based. I left the classroom in 2018 to create space to write curriculum, and train/coach teachers. However, I will always be a teacher. It is who I am! I tutor little folks and big folks in literacy whenever I have the chance.
​
I had a rather circuitous educational journey which offered me the opportunity to embark on what I do presently. I completed a double major in Elementary Education and Deaf Education from Augustana College. I later completed post-graduate work in Linguistics and Language Development at the University of South Dakota and Neuroanatomy at The Ohio State University.
​
During leisure time, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, hiking, fishing, canoeing, camping and cross-country skiing.
Melody Furno
My husband and I live in Columbus, Ohio where I taught an Orton-based Method for literacy in Kindergarten and first grade classrooms for 19 years. Encountering struggling readers in the classroom motivated me to enroll in coursework and to research current information on reading disabilities and dyslexia to set up interventions in the classroom.
​
Since leaving the classroom, I have used an Orton-based Method to train and consult teachers in literacy across the country and tutor struggling readers in 4th and 5th grades for Columbus Public Schools.
​
I enjoy nature, fishing, hiking and biking. My special interest is to encourage faith-based ministries to play a part in addressing youth and adult illiteracy.
