Today’s Mansfield, Ohio, News Journal, includes a story about Genelle Egerton, who found vocational clarity while on mission trip in Haiti with the Grace Brethren Church of Lexington, Ohio. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Lexington principal takes job to help implement ‘science of reading
Elementary school principal, Genelle Eggerton, says she will miss her kids when she takes a new job.
LEXINGTON – Genelle Eggerton admits it’s going to be difficult to leave Western Elementary School after eight years as the principal.
“Where else can you get 320 hugs a day?” she asked.
Eggerton is leaving to become a literacy specialist through Wilson Language Training.
“Genelle is following her passion, literacy. She is a gifted literacy educator and helped bring the Wilson Literacy program to Lexington,” Superintendent Jeremy Secrist said. “We wish her well in this next phase of her career.”
Wilson Language Training provides a pathway for student success at all levels, from emerging readers to those who struggle with dyslexia.
Following a passion to help struggling readers
With more than 30 years of experience, Wilson’s comprehensive, professional learning prepares teachers with the skills needed to provide emerging and struggling readers with high-quality, evidence-based instruction leading to lifelong literacy, while helping schools and districts build program sustainability.
“I’ll be able to make an impact on a larger scale,” Eggerton said. “I will be training teachers and assisting districts in implementing the science of reading.”
She definitely made an impact on Western Elementary, which houses grades pre-K-3.
“I think it’s been a remarkable eight years here, serving kids, serving the community and serving a wonderful staff,” Eggerton said. “I was blessed to be reunited with friends I grew up with, but also meet and make new friends I would honestly call family.”
The Mansfield native, who grew up in the Lexington District and graduated from Mansfield Christian in 1990, calls herself a “non-traditional educator.”
She received a public communications degree from Ashland University in 1994.
“I dabbled a little bit in radio as kind of a side project,” Eggerton said. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do.”
Mission trip to Haiti helped her gain clarity
While managing a retail store, she gained clarity with a mission trip to Haiti with members of Lexington Grace Brethren Church.
“I saw the poverty. I just felt the Lord was calling me in a different direction,” Eggerton said.
Click here to read the complete article.
