Team LiteracyTA Mission

LiteracyTA is dedicated to improving students' academic performance. We believe that a set of definable academic skills can dramatically increase student achievement. Our goal, therefore, is to create an online resource to assist in the teaching of these skills. It is our hope that the literacy strategies and teaching methodologies outlined here assist in the delivery of effective literacy instruction and become a critical component to school-wide literacy efforts. In short, it is our mission to address the literacy needs of all students by delivering the skills they need to perform well in academically rigorous environments.

Commitments

Improve student achievement in school, life, and work
Shape students into strategic, independent readers
Ready students for the rigors of academic and professional work
Prepare students for 21st century careers and global communication
Prepare students for the types of online and face-to-face learning they will encounter in both school and work
Make transparent how to read and write well in all content areas
Deliver practical strategies across a school in order to improve student achievement

Our Team

Jessica Olamit

Jessica Olamit is an English and history teacher at Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz, California. For the past ten years she has also been an AVID Elective teacher and coordinator. Jessica has been a National Staff Developer for AVID Center for the past two years as a trainer for Critical Reading.

Jessica Olamit received her Bachelors of Arts degree in History at the University of California, San Diego with a minor in Education. She went on to earn her Masters Degree in Education from the University of California, at Santa Cruz.

Jessica is deeply passionate about and committed to providing all of her students with quality instruction in academic literacy. She believes that all students can succeed academically with exposure to rigorous content, combined with specific and purposeful instruction in reading and writing.

Contact Jessica:

Jonathan LeMaster

Jonathan LeMaster is an English and AVID Elective teacher at El Cajon Valley High School in the Grossmont Union High School District. In addition to teaching, Jonathan serves as a literacy coordinator at El Cajon Valley High School. In 2009, the Grossmont Union High School District awarded Jonathan with the Golden Apple for excellence in teaching and learning. That same year, he was awarded the Teacher of the Year by his peers at El Cajon Valley High School.

Jonathan LeMaster received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from San Diego State University in 2001. Later, in 2007, he earned his Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from San Diego State University. Jonathan has taught college freshman and sophomore composition classes for the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies at San Diego State.

Jonathan LeMaster is the author of AVID's publication Critical Reading: Deep Reading Strategies for Expository Texts, the author of AVID Weekly--an online literacy resource designed to help secondary teachers implement effective literacy instruction, and the Co-founder of LiteracyTA.

Jonathan LeMaster is a National Staff Developer for AVID Center and is a National Trainer for LiteracyTA. As a LiteracyTA Senior Coach, Jonathan consults with a number of districts on school-wide literacy efforts.

Contact Jonathan:

Lee Ramsey

Lee Ramsey is the Director of Online Business and Information Technology at American Council on Exercise, a San Diego non-profit organization. Prior to ACE, Mr. Ramsey owned and managed his own technology consulting company, BP Solutions, from 2001 to mid-2006. In that capacity, he was responsible for leading all aspects of the business, both the day-to-day operations, as well as the long-term strategy. BP Solutions’ experienced 10% year over year growth of its client base. He received both a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Master’s of Business Administration from San Diego State University.

Lee Ramsey is interested in utilizing technology to enhance literacy in education. He is also interested in the types of literacies students should know in order to be successful in college and at work.

Contact Lee:

Maxine Sagapolutele

Maxine Sagapolutele is an English/ELD teacher at El Cajon Valley High School in the Grossmont Union High School District. In addition to teaching students, Maxine serves as the English Language Coordinator at her site. Maxine works with the teachers at her site to provide a program based on academic literacy.

Maxine Sagapolutele received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from San Diego State University in 1999. Later, in 2006, she earned her Master of Arts in Education in the Department of Policy Studies in Language and Cross-Cultural Curriculum. This degree focuses on implementing the principles of “critical pedagogy” and providing access and equity for English learners and ethnically diverse students.

Contact Maxine:

Melissa Magliola

Melissa Magliola is a high school English teacher and AVID Coordinator from Sacramento, California. After studying internationally at the University of Malta, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Saint Mary's College of California, her teaching credential from Sacramento State University, and her Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, (Nonfiction Emphasis) from Antioch University, Los Angeles. Melissa works nationally as a staff developer, specializing in critical reading strategies to support secondary educators increase literacy in their schools. Aside from her role as an educator, Melissa also is a freelance writer and editor. She is a regular contributor to Style and Real Weddings magazines, and her work has appeared in Teaching Tolerance and Texas Technology, among many other publications. She lives in Sacramento with her husband, who is also a teacher.

Contact Melissa:

Rick Millican

Rick Millican is an English and AVID classroom teacher at El Cajon Valley High School in El Cajon, California. He holds a BA, teaching credential, and Master of Education degree from San Diego State University. He has studied expository critical reading through trainings from the California State University system and through close association and work with Jonathan LeMaster, author of the AVID book Critical Reading: Deep Reading Strategies for Expository Texts.

In addition to his work in the classroom with critical reading, Rick was the second staff developer chosen by AVID Center to expand the capacity of the critical reading strand of AVID Summer Institute. More recently AVID has hired him to write several of the texts used in the Critical Reading 1 strand as well rewrite the CR1 syllabus for the new 3-day summer institute model.

Rick looks forward to expanding his capacities as a Senior Coach for LiteracyTA. He is convinced of the importance of teaching analytical reading to all our students as an important step in their literacy development and success in secondary and postsecondary education.

Contact Rick:

Team LiteracyTA Mission