Our Volunteers
Randi Adleberg
Randi has been a reader since she was 3 years old, when her big sister taught her to read so that they could both go to the weekly Bookmobile to sign out books! Randi's love of reading has bolstered her through joy and sadness, poor times and times of abundance! Her love of reading led her to a BA in English Literature, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and a career teaching 6th through 12th graders in Albemarle County and Fairfax County the thrill of reading, dissecting literature, and discussing great authors and their works. Her great friend, Kelly Price, invited her to join Read On Young Readers.
Patti Alf
Patti is a retired Fairfax County early childhood special education teacher. She has loved reading her whole life. Making cards, lunching with friends, traveling to visit her two little early reader granddaughters, and volunteering with several organizations keeps her busy in retirement.
Diane Ault
Diane is retired Fairfax County preschool Special Education teacher. She also taught Special Education to students in grades 1-6 in Western New York! She is an active member of a book club. She has volunteered at Richard Byrd Library as a Reading Buddy before COVID. She enjoys children, being outdoors, walking with her husband, and spending time with her family, grandchildren and friends!
Lew Baylor
Lew loved reading as a child, and still loves reading. He also enjoys reading to his grandchildren. He and his wife, Mary, have lived in Springfield for 40 years. He is a retired attorney who now enjoys family time, gardening, traveling, biking, swimming, and the company of his two dachshunds. He now has the time to give back to my community and is looking forward to volunteering with ROYR. He believes Read-On Young Readers offers a wonderful opportunity to instill a love of reading in future generations.
Sally Berman
Sally is a retired elementary school teacher from Fairfax County Public Schools. She has taught preschool through sixth grade. She loves working with children! Sally volunteers with landscaping programs and reading programs. She believes in life-long learning and she takes classes at the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute.
Stephanie Bisson
Stephanie is a retired Fairfax County elementary school principal. She has worked as an elementary classroom teacher, reading specialist, Reading Recovery teacher, and Title 1 Coordinator. Her experience includes providing professional development and teaching college courses in reading; coaching reading specialists; and supervising teachers. Stephanie is currently working as an educational consultant teaching and coaching leaders, teachers, and parent groups in effective instruction, improving student achievement and educational leadership.
Jacki Bookbinder
Jacki is a retired Fairfax County teacher, school counselor, adjunct at GMU and life coach. Her entire career was dedicated to assisting students to reach their potential. Her experience as a reading teacher helping elementary children develop a love of reading was one of her favorite positions. She worked in many innovative reading programs in Fairfax County. She is also an avid reader who loved to read to her children and now her grandchildren. She is excited about sharing the world of children’s literature with young readers.
Patty Bortz
Patty is a lifelong native of Northern VA -- she actually grew up and still lives in Fairfax County, although she enjoys traveling outside and across the U.S. Patty has been in the IT industry most all of her career and is counting down the months to retirement and enjoying the beach condo she bought last year. At this point in life she is looking forward to having more time to give back and is especially excited to work with children as well as Veterans - continuing to volunteer and work with the Fairfax VFW Auxiliary as well as other Veteran organizations. Patty is excited to be a part of the ROYR community.
Ross Britcher
Ross always had his head buried in a good book growing up. His love of language led him to study Spanish, training as a translator before moving to Madrid, Spain, where he worked for five years. He recently moved back to his native England, where he works as a freelancer, translating the ROYR newsletter among other things! He’s a big music lover and an avid football (soccer!) fan, and still enjoys a good book.
Jean Buffardi
Jean is a retired early childhood special educator in the FCPS preschool resource program for 20 years and a retired speech/language pathologist with early intervention for almost 10 years. She has fond memories of being read to as a child, reading to her own three children and two grandchildren, as well as seeing the positive impact of reading to children and having conversations about books on language development. She has volunteered in Early Headstart, Headstart, and an after school tutoring program. She also volunteered to shelve picture books in FCPS libraries.
Roberta Cavitt
Roberta retired from a career in international development in 2016. Long before that, she was a high school Spanish and English teacher in Kansas and Missouri. She served three years (1992-1995) as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay. After retiring and before the COVID-19 pandemic, she led a monthly “Magic Tree House” program for kids (ages 6-12) at Burke Centre Library. She loves walking her dog, watching PBS television, cooking and visiting family. Roberta is looking forward to reading children’s books with our young readers.
Pam Cressey
Pam is retired after a career as Alexandria city archeologist and adjunct faculty at The George Washington University in the Anthropology and American Studies departments. In addition to volunteering with reading enrichment programs, she also volunteers at the Lorton Community Action Center food pantry and the Friends of Mason Neck State Park. A resident of Mason Neck, Pam is an advocate for wildlife and historic preservation. And enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, & swimming.
Donald Craig
Craig moved to Springfield, VA in 2017 from California. He has be active in several community nonprofits and supports many causes, including the Community of Trust Committee, League of Women Voters, and High School Outreach Program as an at-large member. He serves as a Board Member for the Faith Alliance Climate Solution and graduated from the FBI Community Academy in 2019.
Desi Crouther
Desi is retired member of Federal Senior Executive Service with extensive experience with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. He is the owner and operator of Magnolia Farm and Apiary, a small family-owned farm and growing apiary, in Round Hill, VA. He spends a great portion of his day working with honey bees and handling the day-to-day responsibilities for the farm. He holds B.S. degrees in Petroleum Geology and Petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State University and received his MBA from the University of Texas.
Deborah Engleson
Deborah is a retired administrator. She’s spent over 40 years volunteering in many areas. She found programs that enabled her to satisfy her passion for reading and early childhood literacy. For two years in the early 2000’s she was the director of the Sarasota Reading Festival and the second year put together the children’s program herself! She’s really eager to participate with ROYR.
Suzanne Fackner
Suzanne is a retired ( 2017) Fairfax County Public Schools teacher. She has a BS in Elementary Education/Special Education minor in Reading and a MED in guidance and counseling. She has enjoyed working in preschool and grades K-8. Suzanne loves gardening, drawing, watercolors, dogs, reading and her three grandsons.
Hazel Frazier
Hazel is retired human resource specialist. She spent over 30 years working for the Department of the Air Force and Department of Defense. She divides her time between family, volunteering, and hobbies which include gardening, gourmet cooking and reading. Hazel enjoys reading historical fiction and spy novels. She loved reading to her children when they were young and now she relishes reading to her 4-year-old grandson. She and her husband, Geofrey, have lived in Fairfax Station for over 15 years.
Gwen Gillespie
Gwen is a retired educator who believes that success in education is about building relationships with students and establishing strong connections with colleagues and families. She fulfilled her passion as an educator teaching in Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Germany, South America, and last but not least, Virginia. Her 50 plus years as a teacher molded her beliefs in equity, diversity and inclusion. She looks forward to sharing her love of reading as a Read-On Young Readers volunteer.
Lisa Holm
Lisa is passionate about literacy and equity in educational opportunities for all children. She has always loved reading and believes that reading is an essential factor in opening the mind to new ideas and possibilities. In her career as an educator, Lisa was a classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, Reading Specialist, and Literacy Coach working with students and teachers in Kindergarten through Grade 6. Lisa is actively involved with Dyspraxia DCD America, a charity dedicated to raising awareness and supporting those impacted by Dyspraxia/DCD.
Mary Patrick
Mary enjoys reading one on one with struggling readers who just need some encouragement. A bookkeeper/accountant, by trade, she has been a volunteer reading tutor for years after discovering how much she missed reading with her son when he was little (he’s 36 now!). Mary is a wife, mother, and Nana who LOVES spending time with her 2-1/2 year old grandson who she loves reading with! She lives in Fairfax City with her husband and dog named Freckles and enjoys art – making it and collecting it!
Debbie Porter
Debbie Porter is a retired Early Childhood resource teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools. She worked in the Family and Early Childhood Program (FECEP/Head Start) for more than 20 years.
Mary Rebuck
Mary Beth worked as a pediatric occupational therapist, helping children with special needs in school and a private clinic for 15 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. One of her favorite things to do as a mom was read to her son. Since her son is now 12, she wants to be of service while engaging in a favorite activity. She moved with her husband and son from PA about 8 years ago. She has also volunteered as a parent representative for her neighborhood swim team and recently took up pickleball.
Valerie Shapiro
Valerie is a retired Fairfax County Public School teacher. She has a background in early childhood, elementary education, reading, and special education (learning disabilities). Her hobbies include organizing photos into scrapbook albums, travelling, walking/exercising, reading and pre-Covid attending theater at the Center for the Arts. She is also dabbling in learning Spanish. Her grandson, Liam (still a baby) is already enjoying shelves filled with books and family reading time. She looks forward to doing shared reading and reading aloud with her mentees.
Cindy Sweeder
Cindy is a retired Early Childhood Resource teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools. In her 25+ years of teaching, she taught children in preschool special education, the Family and Early Childhood Education Program and kindergarten.
Norma Zuckerman
Norma is a lifelong reader, former teacher, and a retired therapist. She volunteers at her local library teaching English as a Second Language. She loves to travel and take care of plants. Her cat Ginny is unbelievably cute as is her grand puppy Cricket. She can't wait to share books with kids through this program.