Faculty

Lorie and Cooper are not native Charlotteans, but they are not far from it. They have both lived here in the area since they were in Elementary and Jr High School. Lorie graduated from Myers Park High and Cooper from East Meck. They both attended and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill. Lorie with a BS in Business Administration and Cooper with both a BS in Industrial Relations and a BS in Psychology. Lorie also obtained her master’s degree from Pfieffer University in Christian Education.
Lorie will be the new face of Ballantyne Reading Academy. Her background in banking, and for the last 25 years, leading staff and volunteers teaching children, makes her a great fit. Cooper will be involved on the business and operational side of things. His background spans building and selling a family business, international software training, and 20 years of coaching and developing financial professionals. They have 2 adult children, Courtney, a former first-grade teacher, and William, a financial advisor.

Adina received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Tampa, and her masters degree in literacy from Mercy College in her home state of New York. She has over 15 years classroom experience teaching children from kindergarten through 5th grade. After relocating to Charlotte from NY with her husband, Adina began private tutoring, and originally joined BRA faculty in 2014, where her love of teaching preschoolers began.

Adina loves spending time with her husband, two boys (ages 6 and 3), and her first-born baby (a mini golden doodle named Mickey Mantle). In her spare time, she loves to read, exercise, or just sit in the sun drinking Starbucks!

Angela is a graduate of The University of Georgia and received her graduate teaching certificate in Elementary Education from UNCC. She is currently a Kindergarten teacher in CMS and enjoys instilling a love for literacy in her students. Angela is a National Board Certified Teacher and has completed Orton-Gillingham training. She enjoys using multi-sensory strategies to help young readers perfect their decoding abilities. She also seeks to provide readers with opportunities to build reading fluency and comprehension. In her free time, Angela enjoys reading, walking and spending time with family.

Christina graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego with a Bachelors of Science degree in Childhood Education. Christina currently works in a 2nd grade classroom at Pinewood Elementary school in Charlotte. She has a passion for teaching students and helping them grow into the person they want to be. Christina strives to provide a fun, engaging, and an effective learning community for all students to learn and develop new ideas. Christina loves helping each child that walks into her classroom and develops great relationships with them! She is excited to be apart of the Ballantyne Reading Academy team!

Having recently become an empty nester, Esther is doing more of what she loves – teaching children! She graduated with a BS in Elementary Education from Louisiana State University and later earned her Masters of Early Childhood Education from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. Esther has taught in Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina in both public and private school settings. During her 12+ years of classroom experience, Esther served as Grade Level Chair and as a supervisor of a student teacher. While her children were in school, Esther substituted at Charlotte Christian School on a regular basis and is an experienced tutor. She currently teaches Sunday School to children 4 – 7 years old. Esther enjoys her weekly volunteer work with two non-profit organizations and is currently a certified Augustine Literacy Tutor for the Augustine Literacy Project. In her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening, knitting and sewing. Esther is looking forward to working with the children at Ballantyne Reading Academy!

Lisa graduated magna cum laude from Stonehill College in North Easton, MA with a BA in Elementary Education and a concentration in Reading Instruction. In addition to teaching second grade in the Walpole, MA school system, Lisa chaired an after-school intramural program for over 700 students and served on the Superintendent’s Literacy Committee, at the personal request of the Superintendent. Lisa’s distinctive approach to combining phonics with language-oriented activities led her to co-author a teacher’s guide to Whole Language instruction and present at regional professional development workshops on the benefits of her integrative classroom reading strategies. Lisa also has experience in teaching kindergarten through fifth grade with the Charlotte-Mecklenberg School System. Prior to founding Ballantyne Reading Academy for the Very Young, Lisa served as Director of Early Childhood Education for a private performing arts school.