Meet the Teachers

Debbie Sperry

Mrs. Sperry has been actively helping young kids learn to read and write for over 7 years.  She taught grades K-2 at Orchard Hills Elementary and has helped kids on a private basis for hundreds of hours.  She is known for her cheerful engaging style that helps kids find joy and confidence in their literacy skills.

Debbie graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Utah Valley University.  She ranked at the top of her class with a 4.0 GPA and was also recognized as being in the top 15% nationwide for her score on the Praxis exam.  She has completed several courses in a master’s program in applied behavior analysis to learn more about how to help kids with autism spectrum disorder and learning challenges. She has a current Utah teaching certificate and has long been the champion of kids who struggle academically.

Mrs. Sperry participated in a research project with UVU faculty on the use of play in the development of young children.  She is a firm believer that reading and writing should be fun.  She has offered individualized and innovative approaches to young readers to help them overcome self-doubt and access feelings of success and accomplishment in the literacy arena.

She has a passion for the life sciences and claims sharing monarch butterflies and baby chicks with kids as a couple of her favorite things to do.  She is the mother of 4 and grandmother of 7 delightful grandchildren.

 

Melayne Williams

Mrs. Williams has taught for 23 years. She has taught Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, Music, and Reading Recovery. She graduated from BYU and taught for 2 years in Nebo District and 21 years in Alpine District. She was accepted into the Reading Recovery Program in her school district where she was trained for a year on how to help struggling readers. She taught for 2 years in Reading Recovery helping struggling 1st graders one on one. She was always grateful for this training because it helped her in classroom for the rest of her career. She believes that phonemic awareness and phonics instruction is essential in reading. She is a strong advocate of using reading and writing together to help a child progress.

The majority of her 23 years has been as a classroom teacher in 1st grade. She loves to help children discover how to read! The reward for Mrs. Williams is to see the excitement of her students as they develop a love for reading.

Mrs. Williams has been awarded the Golden Apple Award and just recently Teacher of the Year 2020-21 at her elementary. Her students’ high test scores every year indicate that her children learn and succeed in her class. She loves to help children develop in all areas by adding art and music to language arts and math. She tries to make learning fun. Mrs. Williams retired in May 2021 and wants to continue to make a difference in the life of a child. She has 5 children and 12 grandchildren.