Horizon 2025 - Flipbook - Page 12
OUTREACH OFFERINGS
Christine Bedenbaugh, M.ED., LDT, CALT, QI, Director of Shelton Outreach & Training
Shelton’s Outreach & Training department was established
to extend the impact of Shelton’s proven teaching methods
beyond our campus. Through specialized training programs,
the department equips educators with the tools and
techniques used in Shelton classrooms — collectively known
as “the Shelton Way.” These programs help teachers earn
certifications and degrees in research-based remediation
practices, enabling them to support students in discovering
how they learn most effectively.
In addition to educator training, Outreach & Training plays a
vital role in promoting Shelton’s mission to a broader audience.
By raising awareness of our school and its unique approach,
the department supports admissions efforts, attracts skilled
educators and expands access to professional development
offerings across the education community.
Since 1990, the Outreach & Training Department has trained
more than 3,762 teachers in the DuBard Association,
Montessori, MTA (Multisensory Teaching Approach), Sequential
English Education (SEE) and Take Flight programs. Here are
some highlights about Outreach:
• In 2024-2025, Outreach impacted 7,500 individuals through
training, workshops and presentations.
• More than 4,206 non-Shelton students have been supported
through the Saturday Scholars Program. Shelton Outreach is
also partnering with St. Philip’s School to launch a Scholars
Program there.
• The Outreach & Training Department oversees a literacy
project made possible by grants aimed at supporting
teachers and students in Texas.
• Outreach has trained hundreds of thousands of teachers,
parents and professionals through short-term workshops
and presentations worldwide, furthering our mission to
empower, enrich and engage the learning community.
• The Outreach staff serves on more than 20 national boards
and committees. They participate in shaping new legislation,
improving existing laws and guiding the future of services
for children who learn differently.
• Outreach partners with Dallas Baptist University (DBU)
to offer adult learners the opportunity to earn a Master’s
degree through training courses at Shelton. Currently,
Chris Bedenbaugh, Dr. Joyce Pickering and Jessica
Newman serve as adjunct professors at DBU.
• Outreach also partners with the University of West Alabama
as it seeks International Multisensory Structured Language
Education Council (IMSLEC) accreditation for its newly
created Master of Education program in Dyslexia Therapy,
utilizing the Take Flight curriculum.
• Outreach continues its partnership with the Alabama
Reading Initiative to provide Take Flight Therapy Level
Training leading to certification. This year’s four cohorts
served 94 Alabama educators.
• Take Flight, Sequential English Education (SEE) and
Multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA) have all been
approved by the Texas Education Agency as Dyslexia
Intervention programs.
10
NOVEMBER 2025
THE HORIZON
SHELTON SCHOOL
Meet the Outreach & Training Staff
Christine Bedenbaugh, MAE, LDT, CALT, QI, Director of
Shelton Outreach & Training and Educational Diagnostician
As the director of Shelton’s Outreach &
Training Department, Chris Bedenbaugh
assists in facilitating the goals of her
team, who provide instruction to
adult learners teaching children who
learn differently, as well as members
who instruct in the Montessori Method.
She is also the director of Shelton
Academic Language Approach/Multisensory
Teaching Approach (SALA/MTA) and Shelton Academic
Reading Approach (SARA)/Take Flight: A Comprehensive
Intervention for Students with Dyslexia. For the 2024–2025
school year, SARA and SALA delivered more than 235
trainings and short-term workshops. Chris was honored
to complete her term as president of the International
Multisensory Language Education Council (IMSLEC). The
mission of IMSLEC is to accredit quality training courses
for the professional preparation of multisensory structured
language education specialists. She is celebrating 38 years
as an educator, including 20 at Shelton.
Dr. Gulzar Babool, Ed.D, AMS EI-II, NAMTA WSMC,
Director of Shelton Montessori Training
Dr. Gulzar Babool is passionate about
Montessori and is an avid advocate for
students with learning differences.
Under her directorship, Shelton
Montessori Training has grown to
serve both public and private sector
schools. It now offers training from Early
Childhood to Upper Elementary levels, in
addition to Administrator training, Montessori Applied
to Children at Risk (MACAR) and the AMS Montessori
Inclusion Endorsement. Gulzar develops content, establishes
numerous virtual deliverables and continues to be a leader
in the Montessori space.
In addition to being a Montessorian for more than 20 years,
Gulzar has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from
Southern Methodist University, where she researched the
use of a multisensory approach to teach reading to students
with dyslexia. She facilitated a partnership with SMU that
offers reduced tuition to all Shelton adult learners.
Gulzar serves on the American Montessori Society (AMS)
Board of Directors and is a founding board member of
Teacher Education and Advocacy for Montessori (TEAM).
She is a chair of the AMS Teacher Education Action
Commission (TEAC) and a frequent speaker at schools
and national conferences. She has shared her expertise on
Montessori and learning differences as a panelist at AMS
conferences and at the Montessori Accreditation Council
for Teacher Education (MACTE) Symposium, where she
presented strategies for accommodating adult learners in
teacher education programs.
