Cappi Wadley provides storybook endings

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- A new chapter has begun at Northeastern State University with the opening of the Capitola Cappi Wadley Center for Reading and Technology on Aug. 28. The state-of-the-art facility provides a place where children can overcome reading deficiencies and educators can become better prepared to help them learn to read. It is a story that longtime educator Cappi Wadley would have loved to read.

My mother Cappi just loved this community, loved this university. But mostly she loved teaching. She knew that education was the key to success in this lifeand that reading was the foundation of education, said her son, Gregg Wadley.

She had a long, long history of teaching and valued teaching and the power of knowledge that education brings. We thought this would be a great way to pay tribute to her life. I think she would be very proud.

Gregg Wadley, Northeastern class of 1969, and his wife, Dr. Betsy Brackett, pledged $1 million in December 2009 in honor of Wadleys mother who passed away in 2005. The gift was the first million-dollar donation in NSU's history.

The new Cappi Wadley Reading and Technology Center is about providing a clinic setting for kids that may be having some difficulties with the reading process with both the mechanics and fundamentals, but it also is a teaching lab for students, said NSU President Steve Turner.

This facility will accept referrals from area schools for those children who might need extra assistance. The second benefit is that our students who are going through the teacher education program will also be able to benefit from having a clinical experience as part of their education here at NSU.

Housed on Bagley's third floor, the Wadley Center offers a clinic where children can overcome reading deficiencies through tutoring.

The facility is directed by Dr. Tobi Thompson, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction.

Construction of the facility began on July 11, 2011. The clinical design allows individual and small-group tutoring. There are also collaborative learning areas, a computer lab, classrooms and a workroom.

"The Wadley Center will benefit the university as well as those who utilize its tutoring and family literacy services," said Anita Thompson, development and grants officer for the College of Education. "By working with individual children, our teacher candidates can hone their literacy instruction skills."

While one-on-one instruction programs are focused on children, Thompson said NSU's College of Education wants to include services for adults in the future. There is a waiting list, but Thompson said those seeking literacy tutors should still call the center. Family literacy nights will be offered beginning in late October.

"The literacy nights are still being planned, but they will bring families here to have a good time and show children how much fun reading can be," Thompson said. "We will have crafts, food and games. We will also teach parents what to look for in children who are having difficulty reading, and how to help them."

She added that donations to the center are still welcome.

"The center will always need donor support," she said. "We will require funds to maintain the facility, buy children's books and make technology upgrades as they become available."

For more information, contact the Wadley Center at 918-444-3313.