Michigan Business News: Person of the Week Nora Chahbazi

What got you started in your profession?

Though I have 2 degrees in nursing and was an RN in Neonatal ICU, I became

interested in how reading is taught when my daughter was reading a year

below grade level in 2nd grade. She was bright and scored in the 98th %ile

on the math portion of the Iowa test but was very deficient in reading and

spelling. Her struggles led me to learning all I could about how to teach

reading. After teaching her how to read - she's now a freshman in college

in honors classes - I helped several other children learn to read well, too.

This led to my opening Ounce of Prevention Reading Center and training

teachers in how to teach reading. EBLI (Evidence-Based Literacy

Instruction), our strategies and activities we teach to teachers and

students, was developed in 2003.

What do you want others to know about you?

I'd like others to know that I am determined to be sure that every child and

adult has the opportunity to learn to read to their highest potential and

every teacher to learn how to teach reading. Educating the misinformed

people in society, including members of legslative bodies and educators

themselves, that people who are illiterate or semi-literate are only

disabled in that they haven't been taught. My life's passion and mission is

to shift that paradigm so the millions who suffer from lack of literacy will

be taught.

What do you like and dislike about your community?

My community is small and quaint. People are kind and community oriented

with a multitude of activities to attend and be involved in.

Because I

lived around the world for 13 years thanks to the military, I found moving

to a small town difficult in that there was much less openness to having a

variety of ways of thinking and doing things.

What's your most memorable moment in life?

The births of my children.

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy reading and learning about new things. Watching my daughter's

perform in sports and concerts brings me great joy. I also love to travel,

garden and work outside, exercise, and watch U of M football.

How can people find out more about your business?

You can find out more about EBLI and Ounce of Prevention Reading Center at

our web site www.ebli.org

There is a short video as well as lots of information, including research studies done on EBLI. There's also feedback and contact information for educators who use EBLI in their schools and parents who have brought their children to Ounce of Prevention Reading

Center.