KSLA Board

2023-2024 KSLA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT - FRANI THOMAS

Frani is a K-5 Title 1 Reading Specialist  in the Southern Huntingdon County School District. She has been teaching in the district for 37 years. Frani received her BA from Juniata College, Reading Specialist Certification from Penn State, M.Ed in Ed Leadership and Principal’s Certification from St. Francis University.  Frani was a charter member of KSLA Raystown Country at the urging of her reading professor at Penn State. Brenda Townsend. Brenda was at that time the Membership Director of KSRA and then went on to work for the  International Reading Association. Frani has been involved in KSLA and her local council ever since. She  served as KSLA Secretary for seven years and as Regional Director for Region 7. She has served on many conference committees, was the KSLA Council Awards Chairperson and Meeting Registration chair. Frani remains active in KSLA because the opportunities to learn and grow are endless. Each time she attends a meeting she knows she is among friends!

VICE PRESIDENT - CHRISTINE WALSH

Dr. Christine Walsh is an Associate Professor and Graduate Reading Program coordinator in the Elementary and Early Childhood Department at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. She collaborates with teachers and administrators to develop field experiences that include service-learning.

PAST PRESIDENT - SANDRA CECCHINI

Sandee has been in education for 23 years. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education at Clarion University. She began her career in the McKeesport School District teaching reading. She then received her Master’s Degree in Literacy from Indiana University. Sandee then accepted a position at the Apollo-Ridge School District as a fifth grade classroom teacher in the elementary. She then moved to the middle school where she currently teaches reading and english. Sandee is also the past president of KSLA Central Western and has held the offices of treasurer and membership. She also held the position of Act 48/Professional Development Co-chair for KSLA Ad-Hoc for 15 years.

TREASURER - Kim Firment-Miller

SECRETARY - DEBBIE URSO

Debbie finished her 22st year in education in the Chambersburg Area School District. Currently, she is a Title I instructional specialist, and, prior to that, was a reading specialist and taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. In addition to serving as KSLA’s Secretary, she is the Families & Reading Committee Chair. Even though April is Families & Reading Month, Debbie promotes reading and family literacy events throughout the entire year in her school district and local reading council. In KSLA Franklin County, she serves as Co-President. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, singing, gardening, and of course reading professional books and novels.  

ILA COORDINATOR - AILEEN HOWER

Aileen is an Associate Professor of Literacy and Graduate Coordinator of the M.Ed. in Language and Literacy at Millersville University. She will be starting her 29th year in education this August. Aileen graduated with her doctorate in Reading/Language Arts Leadership from Widener University in 2013. She is a KSLA Past President and is a co-chair of the Keystone to Reading Secondary book awards. She is the treasurer for KSLA York Adams.

DIRECTOR OF MEMBER SERVICES - EMILY REED

Emily is a Reading Specialist at Dillsburg Elementary School in the Northern York County School District. She has served in this position for 24 years. She graduated from Millersville University with an undergraduate degree in Elementary, Early Childhood, and Physical Education. She later earned her Master's degree in Reading from there as well. She continued her education while receiving a principal and supervisory certificate from Shippensburg University. She serves as KSLA Director of Member Services, as well as serving on the Keystone to Reading Book Award Elementary committee and acting as co-chair of the Secondary committee.This year, she will be President of KSLA York Adams and Act 48 Chair of KSLA Capital Area. In her free time she serves the children in her community through the Kiwanis Club of Dillsburg. She loves to sing, watch Hershey Bears ice hockey, play disc golf, and kayak with her husband. And of course, you will always find Emily reading. Being a part of KSLA gives her the opportunity to share her love of literacy with other teachers, children and the community. 

DIRECTOR OF LITERACY ADVOCACY - KATIE SOLIC

Katie Solic earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, her M.Ed. in Reading Education from the University of Florida, and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Solic brings experience as a language arts teacher and literacy specialist at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in both public and independent school settings. She began her college teaching experience as an adjunct instructor at West Chester University. Prior to joining the faculty at West Chester University full-time, Dr. Solic served as a Michael Pressley Memorial Research Fellow at Benchmark School in Media, PA. Her research focuses on meeting the needs of striving readers and the teachers dedicated to supporting them.

CONFERENCE AND MEETING COORDINATOR - MICHAEL WILLIAMS

Michael is a Second Grade Teacher at Mountain View Elementary School in the Central Dauphin School District. He has served in this position since 2005. He graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. He later earned his Master's degree from Wilkes University.  At the local level, Michael is President of KSLA Capital Area.  He gives back to his profession by serving on the district’s Language Arts curriculum committee and his school’s leadership team. Michael is the Co-President of the Central Dauphin Education Association. On the weekends, Michael also serves as a religious education catechist at Holy Name of Jesus Church. He is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and serves on the Parish Council at Saint Catherine Laboure Church.  And of course, Michael is a huge Notre Dame fan!

REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Region I - Anna Landers

Anna Landers is currently teaching grade 3 at Corry Area Intermediate School. In addition, she is the current acting President of KSLA NW (former Erie Reading Council).

Anna earned her BA in Psychology from EUP in 1990. She was inspired by her children and their teachers to become an educator, returning to EUP to earn a MA in Reading and an Elementary Education Certification. 

Anna began her career at Corry Area School District in 2007 as a Reading Specialist. In 2017, she became a classroom teacher for 4th and 5th grade ELA. In 2019 she became a 3rd grade teacher where she continues to promote a love of literacy.

Anna is a member and Past President of the Keystone State Literacy Association, Conference Chair for KSLA 2016 Conference ‘Literacy Changes Lives’, a member of the International Literacy Association, and a member and current Acting President of our local reading council, KSLA NW. Anna also worked to promote literacy through WQLN’s Families Turn on to Literacy Program.

Anna lives with her husband of 32 years, their dogs Lucy and Daisy, and quite a few chickens. She has four children who have moved around the country allowing her to visit different states!

Region II - Crystal Long

Crystal has been in education for 20 years. She received her Bachelor’s degree and early childhood certification from Slippery Rock University. She started her career in Head Start and is now working in a PA Pre-K Counts classroom for the last 12 years. She has been a member of Central Western Council for more than 15 years holding the offices of President and membership. Also a member of KSLA for more than 15 years.

Region III - Stacy Ricciotti 

Stacy has been working in public education for 23 years.  During all of those years, she has been working for West Branch Area School District in which she has served several roles:  4th grade teacher, Title 1 Reading Specialist, Success for All Facilitator, and Instructional Coach.  Stacy received her bachelor's degree in Elementary and Kindergarten Education from The Pennsylvania State University.  She also obtained her master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and holds a Reading Specialist Certificate.  This graduate work was completed at The Pennsylvania State University.  Wilson College hired Stacy as an adjunct professor.  She taught EDU 548:  Reading in the Content Areas. KSLA Central PA is the council in which Stacy currently serves as president.  

Region IV - Andrea Morrison

Andrea, everyone calls her Andy, worked for two school districts during her 35 year career. She started in the Harrisburg School District in 1971 as a second grade teacher, which is the grade she still loves and teaches at church. During the 18 ½ years with this district she wore many hats, as a Title I reading specialist, a diagnostician, and a PCRP (Pennsylvania Comprehensive Reading Program) teacher visiting all 11 elementary schools. She moved to Elizabethtown Area School District in 1988 where she was the Reading Supervisor, but still taught Title I in the elementary schools. The opportunity at this district for the yearlong Reading Recovery training changed her life. Andy is an active member of KSLA Lancaster Lebanon and works as their membership chair, but upon retirement in 2006, she also joined KSLA Capital Area. Her retirement activities include working with the Friends of the East Shore Library, helping at Hospice of Central PA, and chairing the exhibits at the KSLA Conference for the past 6 years.     

Region V - Donna Salva

Donna retired from the Lackawanna Trail School District after 36 years of teaching. She taught 7th and 10th grade English for three years and spent the rest of her career as a Title I Reading Specialist. She received her BS degree from Mansfield University and her MS in Reading from the University of Scranton. She has been an adjunct professor at Marywood University since 2005 where she teaches in the Graduate Reading and Graduate Education programs. In addition, for the last 21 years, she has been a consultant for the Kid Writing Program and has conducted staff development sessions for educators throughout the country, traveling as far as San Antonio, Texas to share the joy of writing with emergent learners. Donna serves KSLA Northeast PA as President, Membership Chair, and Act 48 Chair and has done so for many years. She also chairs the Professional Development Seminar Series and is the creator of the Making Books Come to Life Series. In addition, she has served as a committee chairperson for five KSLA Annual Conferences.

Region VI - Andrea Mumford

Andrea is a Reading Specialist at Evergreen Elementary School in the Perkiomen Valley School District. She has been there for 21 years. Previous to her current role, she taught 2nd grade in the Philadelphia School district for five years. She loves working with students on building their reading skills. She also enjoys talking about books with the school’s Reading Olympics teams each year. She graduated from Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She later earned her Master's degree in Reading from Holy Family University.  Andrea has served as an officer at the local level for several years. She was president of Tri County Reading Council for six years and helped the council merge with Chester County Reading Association to become KSLA Brandywine Valley Forge. Currently she is the recording secretary for the new council and serves on many of the committees.  

Region VII - Marge Wilson

Marge Wilson is presently a second grade teacher for the Southern Huntingdon County School District with over thirty 

years of teaching experience. She attended Millersville University for her undergraduate coursework and St. Francis 

University for her graduate studies. Certifications in the areas of elementary, reading, and special education have helped 

her provide meaningful learning experiences for her students. Passionate about helping students develop critical reading 

skills and become lifelong learners she joined the Raystown Country Chapter of the Keystone State Literacy Association 

almost twenty five years ago. She currently serves as president of this chapter and enjoys providing literacy activities for 

the children in her community.