Laveen Elementary School

Phoenix, Arizona

2025 Read Live School of the Year Runner-up

Submitted by Leah Hall, Special Education Teacher

Laveen Elementary School receives a $500 Read Naturally Gift Certificate.

In the resource room at Laveen Elementary, Special Education Teacher Leah Hall works with students who are English language learners, students with intellectual or reading disabilities, and students who are neurodivergent. Many of her students become frustrated with reading, and it can take a toll on their confidence. She explains, “They don’t like reading in class, and they feel ‘less than’ everyone else.”

Hall describes her students as “beautiful, smart, creative, and funny kids,” and is committed to helping them see themselves that way, too. One of the most powerful ways she supports them is by helping them find success in reading.

For the past five years, Hall has used Read Live to support that mission. With Read Live, she is able to provide structured phonics instruction, targeted comprehension practice, and high-interest story content. Her students are not only learning to read but also experiencing the joy of reading to learn.

Thanks to her dedicated effort, Hall’s students are now seeing themselves in a new light. One student excitedly told her, “I feel proud of myself now. I’m not just trying to follow along. I read!”

Laveen Elementary School is a model of excellence in literacy instruction and a very deserving awardee of the Read Live School of the Year scholarship.

Check out their full nomination below including their video submission and their story.

At Laveen Elementary School, some students are English language learners. Some students are special education students. And many are both. My Resource students are middle-schoolers with learning challenges who are expected to speak one language at home and another in school. They heroically try to be students for themselves, AND liasons for their families. They have mild intellectual disabilities, autism, dyslexia, and ADHD. They struggle to feel like "regular kids" while facing multiple challenges. They come from homes where there may be a shortage of English, but no shortage of determination to achieve. They are beautiful, smart, creative, and funny kids. But just using English and reading the textbook in their regular classrooms can leave them feeling frustrated. They can be two or more grade levels behind their peers....not only due to their ability to learn, but their ability to communicate. The differences in their abilities to read or solve math word problems show up when they are always trying to learn new concepts while struggling to understand their teachers. They don’t like reading in class, and they feel “less than” everyone else.

But imagine if there were a trusted teacher using special materials. High interest/low vocabulary stories in science and social studies that mirrored what was being taught in the general education classroom. Phonics practice in a structured environment. Comprehension questions to deepen knowledge of the text. Do you know what would happen? These kids could learn in English while growing their skills...these students could succeed. And that’s just what happens. Using Read Live in the Resource classroom for the past five years has helped my Special Education English Language Learners thrive in ways they never thought they could. The students love being able to choose the topics they read about. And they love being able to progress individually. "When we use Read Live, we don't have to wait for someone else, and no one has to wait for us,” one student told me. “I feel proud of myself now. I’m not just trying to follow along. I read!”

I have seen it year after year...when students can read, and speak and write on their own, they don't just grow, they SHINE!