After 16 years with The Reading Center, Jan Hagedorn, known to many students and families as “Mrs. H,” is retiring as of November 2021. She was celebrated at a staff luncheon in October and an open house on November 5, 2021.
“I am very thankful for Mrs. H. She has helped me since the first grade. Because of her I now know how to reed (ha, ha, just kidding) read. In all seriousness, I wouldn’t be where I am today without her help. Thank you, Mrs. H! ”
Jan took Orton-Gillingham Training at The Reading Center to help her dyslexic son, Sam, learn to read. With her training and enthusiasm for teaching, she became a tutor for TRC in 2005. Since that time, she used her passion for the youngest learners to develop and later become the first Director of our Reading Readiness program – a program for families and students ages 4-6 based on the principles of Orton-Gillingham. This program has helped hundreds of families over the years to support their emerging readers in a fun, structured way. For many of her students, they entered the group class nervous and guarded and emerged with newfound confidence and skills to make them successful in the classroom.
“She is one of a kind! Blessed to have had her in our lives during the beginning stages of our son’s journey with dyslexia.”
Jan is known statewide for her over 20 years of legislative advocacy work. She focused on tangible ways to improve training for classroom teachers to equip them to better serve the needs of dyslexic learners and students that struggle with reading. Jan’s ability to find and foster relationships with decisionmakers helped lay the groundwork for legislative successes in recent years, including mandatory screening and state investment in teacher training in the science of reading. Jan is quick to note that much more work needs to be done.
“Jan’s passion for education has been a blessing to my children and every child she has had the opportunity to work with. Our kids are better able to read, learn and handle the not so easy things in life because she helped them feel successful.”
Jan’s capstone achievement was helping to gain a $1.5 million investment from the state of Minnesota to fund our new building. Over several years Jan fostered a relationship with former state Senator LeRoy Stumpf, then-Chairman of the state’s capital investment committee. Senator Stumpf was so inspired by Jan’s testimony before the Senate Education committee that he encouraged his daughter to enroll his granddaughter in Jan’s Reading Readiness program where both her skills and confidence grew. The grateful senator vowed to help The Reading Center reach more students by jumpstarting us down the path of a successful request for state bonding support.
“I can’t imagine TRC without you! You’ve directly helped so may children realize their potential. ”
Jan and her husband Steve plan to travel and enjoy each other in their new status as retirees. Jan says she has enjoyed all of the last 16 years at The Reading Center watching her “kids” learn and grow.
Happy Retirement Jan, we will miss you. You believe in the potential of every child. What a gift you gave to each child and family you worked with.
Thank you for your service and commitment to The Reading Center!
“Jan Hagedorn has earned many enthusiastic and supportive parents and young people over the years, and the affection is well deserved. Anyone who has had Jan teach their child knows that Jan will advocate and fight hard for that child to learn to read. She cares immensely about her students and her students return that caring in kind. Jan has done so many important things for The Reading Center, from Reading Club and free screenings for emerging readers, to creating a student database, to creating a website and facilitating dyslexia simulations, to giving testimony at the MN State legislature and analyzing data on student reading gains. If something was needed, Jan would step up to the plate. What she will be remembered most for is her passion for dyslexia and the urgency with which she feels that teachers of young people must know the science of reading”
“Jan made a huge impact on my life and truly cared for my well-being. She pushed me to be the best that I can be and taught me a lifetime worth of skills in my few years with her. I was and still am truly grateful for my years working with her..”