Meet the Board
Deb Halabis
About: Deb has a BSEd from The Ohio State University. She worked at Durham Academy in the Lower School for 18 years. While there, she was a teaching assistant and Pre and Lower school assistant librarian. She loves to read, knit and be outdoors.
Favorite Genre: Literary Fiction
Joe Halabis
About: Joe is a graduate of the The Ohio State University and was honored as one of the 100 Most Notable Alumni of the College of Optometry during their Centennial Celebration in 2014. He retired in 2021 from a career as an optometrist with the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition to administrative roles and clinical practice he was actively involved in teaching students and residents. He held academic appointments with Indiana University, The Ohio State University and for the last 20 years of his tenure, Duke University. He lectured locally, nationally and on several occasions abroad. He is the author or coauthor of a number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. His interest in ocular photography dates back to his days as a student at OSU and his images have graced journal covers, clinical articles and textbooks. His clinical photographs appear in the Atlas of Ophthalmology Online Multimedia Database, and most notably, Shield’s Textbook of Glaucoma, Sixth Edition. He has been awarded a number of photography awards including the 2013 American Academy of Optometry Anterior Segment Photography Grand Prize. His passion for horses and riding started as an adult. He has volunteered as a certified Equestrian Coach for Special Olympics and now with Rearing2Read. Joe met his wife Debi in college and they live in Hillsborough with their dog Winnie.
Favorite Genre: Adventure
Rearing2Read is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions made to Rearing2Read are deductible under section 170 of the Code.