Academic Language Instructors

All of our instructors are Certified Literacy Intervention Specialists or are working toward certification.

Mary Belvin MA, CDT, CALT-QI: Mary Belvin is the founder and director of Literacy Intervention Services. She has a Master’s in Writing, is a Certified Academic Language Therapist, Certified Dyslexia Therapist, and a Qualified Instructor licensed to train teachers in literacy programs. An educator of 32 years, Mary has been a classroom teacher, private tutor, teacher consultant, teacher educator, curriculum writer, and school administrator. She loves working with children, engages them in learning and helps them gain confidence and perform to the best of their ability.

Mary Frank, B.S. Elem Ed., ALI: Mary has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education and is an Academic Language Instructor. She taught in the classroom for 13 years before staying home with her children. Her belief in a systematic, multisensory approach to literacy like Alphabetic Phonics drives her instruction to meet the individual needs of the children she serves.  Currently, Mary provides literacy intervention at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School. She enjoys helping children see their special gifts and potential.

Lisa Harris, MA, CALT: Lisa has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Marketing, a Certificate in Academic Language Therapy, and a Master’s in Art of Teaching. Lisa has taught Alphabetic Phonics for 13+ years. She has been the Reading Specialist at The Independent School for 9 years, where she uses research based multi-sensory approaches in an explicit way to engage students in achieving literacy skills. With a son who has a learning difference, she is passionate about showing children another way to learn to read, while focusing on their strengths and building their confidence.

Anne Maxwell, B.A. Communications, ALI: Anne has a bachelor's degree in Communications and is an Academic Language Instructor. She has enjoyed a 25-year career in professional communications. After raising two daughters who are dyslexic, she pursued training in Academic Language Therapy. She not only understands the frustrations students with learning differences experience but knows the incredible gifts these creative thinkers bring to the world when given research-based instruction. She offers literacy intervention at St. Catherine and Holy Spirit Catholic schools, where it gives her great joy to see students gain confidence and grow as they discover strategies to read and spell.

Nikki Hanssen, B.S. Communications, ALI: Nikki holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Wichita State University and has 20+ years of experience working in university and non-profit settings. After raising her dyslexic son, she realized that early intervention makes a difference for struggling readers and that research- based instruction is the key to student success. Because of this experience, she pursued training in Academic Language Therapy. Nikki enjoys seeing students discover strategies to succeed in reading and writing. She enjoys watching students' confidence grow, knowing they will flourish in the classroom when provided with the proper tools.

Stacie Swanson, B.S. Family Studies, ALI: Stacie received her bachelor's degree from Kansas State University with a desire to aid youth through development and challenges. She worked in various positions in child development and social care.  Stacie has three children who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia. After enrolling them in a dyslexia program and immediately seeing educational and emotional improvement in each of them, she decided to pursue Academic Language Training to help other families see their child's reading potential. Stacie has lived through and understands the emotional impact and school challenges that can arise. Her goal is to provide the same level of educational and emotional development to her students as her own children have received.

Sheila Robbins, ALI: Sheila attended Wichita State University. She has always had a heart for teaching children.  She worked for thirteen years at a small private church school before homeschooling her children for sixteen years. After her children graduated, she began helping some of her friends to homeschool their children, many of whom were dyslexic. In searching for a way to help these families, Sheila took completed 200+ hours of training to become an Academic Language Instructor. To help students with math, she has taken training in Stern Math.

Sara High, B.S. Music Education, ALI: Sara has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Friends University and Kodaly music certification from Wichita State University.  She has taught Music in public and private schools for 18 years.  She has always been interested in the connection between reading literacy and music literacy, and she has taught music using sequential and multi-sensory approaches throughout her teaching career.  After watching one of her own children flourish with reading success and confidence through Alphabetic Phonics instruction, she decided to become an Academic Language Instructor.  Each child possesses unique and special gifts to share, and Sara is committed to helping students learn to read and write with confidence and determination to reach their full potential. 

Lisa Chandler, BS Elementary Education, ALI: Lisa has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Marketing, and is an Academic Language Instructor.  She is a mother of six, has been teaching in the classroom for 16 years, and has taught grade levels PreK through 3rd grade.  After watching her own son struggle with learning differences, she reached out for help.  She watched him become a successful and more confident learner through a research based dyslexia program, so Lisa decided to pursue training as a Academic Language Therapist in order to help more children and families discover ways to be successful readers and confident writers.  

Erin Barthelme, BS Elementary Education & Early Childhood Education, ALI:  Erin had the privilege of creating and instructing the first preschool program at St. Peter Catholic School. She also had the pleasure of teaching kindergarten and 1st grade during her 9 years as a classroom teacher at St. Peter. Erin has 5 children and has been a stay-at-home mom for the past 4 years, while continuing to substitute teach and volunteer in the classroom. She decided to pursue training in Alphabetic Phonics after having one of her own children struggle with reading and spelling at school. She is now an Academic Language Instructor and hopes to help other children build confidence in themselves and find the joy in learning how to read and write.

Crystal Barnes, B.B.A  Accounting, ALI:  Crystal has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and is an Academic Language Instructor.  She homeschooled her 7 children and then entered the Catholic School System as a substitute teacher.  She has seen her own son struggle with dyslexia but has seen that with multi-sensory research-based instruction, he is becoming a confident reader. This is why she pursued training in Academic Language Therapy. Dyslexic students are hard workers, creative thinkers and have many gifts to share.  It gives her joy to see these students come out of their shell and gain confidence in reading and spelling. 

Denah Rusk: BA in Elementary & Early Childhood Ed, ALI: Denah graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary & Early Childhood Education. She has always had a passion for teaching and enjoys working with children. She has had the opportunity to teach using several different reading programs in over 15 years of working in the public education system, but ultimately, has never seen successful results until using Alphabetic Phonics. It is so rewarding to provide a positive learning experience for children and to watch them celebrate their successes learning to read, write, and spell. Denah is in her third year of teaching Alphabetic Phonics and is eager to join Mary’s team of literacy intervention specialists.