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All About Mrs. Gedney

My name is Kelly Gedney and I absolutely love my job as a reading specialist at Legend Springs! I get to share my passion and knowledge of reading with the staff and students. As a reading specialist, I am privileged to team teach with colleagues, facilitate Professional Learning Communities and, most importantly, provide systematic, explicit, multi-sensory lessons to students with reading deficiencies. 

As a child; I struggled with reading, hated reading and had low self-esteem because of my reading challenges. At a young age, I knew I wanted to become a teacher to provide students with a more positive school experience.  After spending many years of researching the Science of Reading through classes and trainings, I have found successful strategies that can effectively transform a struggling reader into a proficient reader. At Legend Springs, our primary grades provide a solid foundation in phonemic awareness and phonics based on Science of Reading practices.

I am officially Orton Gillingham Certified through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. This is an explicit, systematic and multi-sensory reading program specifically designed to help struggling and dyslexic readers.  I'm also trained in the research based Barton Reading and Spelling Program that incorporates the Orton Gillingham methodology. Finally, I went through extensive training to become a certified Arizona Dyslexia Designee. 

I'm a Minnesota native and 3rd generation teacher. I graduated from Minnesota State University-Mankato with a BA in Elementary Education.  I was recruited by Deer Valley at an educational job fair and was ready for a new adventure - so I moved to AZ. At the time, this was just a one-year plan. However, that soon changed when I quickly fell in love with Arizona and teaching in the Deer Valley School District. I'm currently in my 24th year of teaching and my 10th year at Legend Springs.

In 2008, I earned my Master's Degree in Elementary Education with a Reading Endorsement through NAU.  In addition, I earned my Gifted Endorsement in 2010. I've been blessed with many recognitions during my career with Deer Valley. In 2002, I was named the Rookie Teacher of the Year.  In 2008, my colleagues nominated me to receive the Deer Valley Pride Award. Finally, in 2010, I was honored as one of Deer Valley's Teachers of the Year.  

I'm so blessed to live in the Legend Springs neighborhood with my amazing husband and our two beautiful school-aged daughters. Helen is in 8th grade and attends Hillcrest Middle School. Evelyn is a 3rd grader at Legend Springs. I also have the sweetest dog named Freddy, and he stars in many of my phonics lessons.  We are an active family that enjoys sports, swimming, bike riding, movies and music.