Curriculum

About

I have the honor to advocate for an effective, multifaceted curriculum for secondary students who struggle with reading. The program, STRIPSS, was designed by the late Georgia Howard, professional educator and speech pathologist, who was also my mentor, collaborator, and friend.

Georgia and I worked intimately to improve the lives of struggling readers for over 25 years. We shared our reading expertise through workshops and reading conferences within and outside the state of Florida in order to train teachers in Georgia’s five decoding strategies. The strategies fundamentally rely on visual skills. Additionally, Georgia and I implemented these strategies ourselves in middle and high school classes across Volusia County, Florida. It wasn’t until 2010 that she began transforming these workshop and classroom materials into a published program that she coined STRIPSS, STReamlined Intensive Phonics for Secondary Students. The accompanying student workbook and teacher’s guide were entitled Five Bridges to Higher Words. One unique feature is once the weekly lesson is completed, it can be ‘pushed in’ to a teacher’s current curriculum, providing a relevant and highly effective application piece in the students’ learning process.

Also worth noting is unlike most remedial programs, her materials have been specifically designed for the adolescent student. Cognizant of how a reading disability can affect students emotionally as well as academically, lessons were developed to ensure a level of sophistication, empowering and motivating students.

Testimonials confirm Georgia’s materials have been successfully and enthusiastically used by teachers. She bequeathed ownership of her life’s work to me.

As the CEO of The Howard Reading Service, I am searching for an organization that would perpetuate Georgia’s curriculum with fidelity. I plan to sell The Howard Reading Service, which includes the rights to Georgia’s program. Curricular fidelity is of the utmost importance, and it should not be difficult to maintain. The teacher’s guide clearly sets the sequence of skills required for student success. A PowerPoint for each lesson is also provided.

It would be an honor to meet with you and discuss how Bridges to Higher Words can support secondary struggling readers.

Celeste J. Johnson, CEO

Testimonials

• I have seen this program in its infancy and know through my experiences with the program that it works! Georgia Howard not only understands the dynamics of the reading process, but tailors it to the specific needs of the adolescent student. The program is quick paced and maintains the integrity of the struggling reader at all times.

  Celeste Johnson
  District Mentor to Reading Teachers
  Middle and High School

• I am so thankful that you have developed a program that is both engaging and practical for these struggling students. Right from the start of the program my students are interested and enthusiastic about mastering phonics, and the workbook allows them ownership of lessons with visual aids and useful practice to boot. I’d be lost without these materials, and feel honored to have been a part of the “ground floor”. More importantly, though, my students would be the poorer for not having them.

  Michelle Manuel
  Reading Teacher
  Middle and High School

• Georgia Howard has the understanding of a child-to-adult's struggles with reading that surpasses anyone I have ever known or studied. Her reading series has been under construction for many years from her dedication and passion for reading proficiency. She has been my mentor and I have used her reading series with my intensive middle school students. Georgia Howard's approach can teach a rock to read. Her now complete series is built out of all those years of her passion, love, knowledge, understanding, and philosophy of NEVER letting anyone feel hopeless because of his/her inability to read well.

  Mari Reed
  Reading Teacher
  Spec. Ed., Middle School

• As a reading coach I found the STRIPSS materials fill a huge need in secondary. My teachers were delighted to finally have some organized, focused materials to address the phonics needs of their students. I haven’t seen any other appropriate secondary program that fills this huge gap in our students’ reading skills. The materials are engaging, to the point, and fun….plus they save teachers’ time searching for bits and pieces of phonics to use with their students.

  Mary Thomas
  Reading Coach
  High School

• Your guidance and reading intervention materials were integral to my success as a reading teacher. The materials are concise, extremely user-friendly and provided wonderful practice exercises. Thank you for all of your support.

  Debbie Triplett
  Reading Teacher
  Middle School

• I was personally trained with the STRIPSS Program by Georgia Howard herself and knew it was going to fill the gap that has been present with previous programs for middle school students struggling in reading. The metacognitive approach for vocabulary development using phonemic awareness provides entertaining lessons that allow students to love what they are learning. As my students' began experiencing success with the program, I saw their self-esteem increase and their motivation surface - this propelled them to continue with each lesson. Any teacher with struggling students knows that self-confidence is the key to success. This program is brilliantly designed to not only empower students but empower teachers as well. When teachers are provided with the proper tools, flexible lesson plans and researched-backed pedagogy, positive results occur. The Stripss Program unleashes success for teachers and students.

  Donna Fine
  Reading Teacher
  Middle School

• Bridges to Higher Words is absolutely amazing because students are respected. This program teaches students to visually analyze language patterns, which speaks to their innate curiosity about how the brain works. It also supports students' need for dominion over their learning.

  Marina Turturro
  Reading Teacher
  Middle School