Rita M. Wirtz, M.A., parent of four, taught Language Arts, English, Speech, and Reading at every skill level from pre-school to adult. She taught in labs, clinics, and classrooms for over thirty years. She also served as a K-6 and pre-school principal and worked at both county office and state levels in various positions including curriculum consultant, literacy trainer, and Title I program evaluator. With this vast experience--and her love of children--she really knows what works to teach kids to read; or to read better.

Rita has taught reading courses at several Universities, mentored a multitude of student teachers, and created Housecalls--an on-site, in-classroom modeling demonstration series for teachers and their students. This latter series was fine-tuned in her national seminars and modeled in over 600 K-12 classrooms throughout the United States.

She is a powerhouse! And the best way to explain how important her Reading Champs has become is to listen to some of her colleagues and students.

Her praises, by themselves, could fill an entire book; more than anything this brief introduction could possibly say.

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