A lifelong learner and educator, Capitola “Cappi” Wadley taught her students that anything is possible if they worked hard, studied and applied their intellect. That attitude dominated her life and was the driving force behind the creation of the Capitola “Cappi” Wadley Reading & Technology Center at Northeastern State University, where young students can overcome reading deficiencies and educators can become better prepared to help them learn to read. Candidates in Northeastern State's education programs provide tutorial assistance to students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in this nearly 7,800 square-foot facility. Candidates learn appropriate assessment techniques, administer those assessments, and create lessons and activities to strengthen student weaknesses and sharpen student strengths. Candidates teach students effective reading strategies and how to adapt those strategies to specific content areas. Each lesson taught focuses on the Five Non-Negotiables: phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Graduate students have the ability to do the same with students in grades K-12. This facility, made possible by a milestone donation from Gregg Wadley and his wife Dr. Betsy Brackett, honors Wadley’s mother, Capitola “Cappi” Wadley who was a librarian at NSU and a public school teacher. Here, candidates gain practical experience working in the clinic under the supervision of Northeastern State faculty, while students from Tahlequah and surrounding communities enrolled at the clinic receive additional instruction in reading and literacy skills. In addition to our in-depth tutoring services, the Cappi Wadley Reading Center also offers computer assisted learning to community learners and NSU students through the Center for Study of Literacy, an ever growing library of books and audiobooks, and language development through the use of Rosetta Stone™ language learning software.
