While I was in Salt Lake last month I got word that Dr. Ethna Reid had passed away. I am always amazed at all the nice comments and good wishes for the family people write on their Facebook posts and obituary page. The tributes says it all and there is so much to learn about their time on this earth.
For example: I didn’t know Dr. Reid died on the very day her father had died 49 years ago and that she lived in Granger and attended Monroe Elementary where I also attended sixth grade when I came as an exchange student for one year. That Dr. Reid’s mother was a prominent local poet and named her after an Irish poet. Linnie, her mother was one who read to her children and that is why Dr. Reid learned to love books from a young age. The summer before third grade Ethna's mother challenged her to memorize several of Shakespeare's plays, so she memorized "Romeo and Juliet" and "Macbeth." The summer before second grade she had memorized all the poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Her mother constantly read scriptures and great literature to and with her children.
Ethna studied piano from a young age. She was the ward organist starting at the age of 12. She continued studying piano, organ, and conducting all through high school. She studied music at the Boston Conservatory of Music too. She met her husband Mervin while attending High School. At graduation, he gave the prayer and she was the valedictorian. He was also an accomplished pianist at the McCune Scholl of Music and Art. She continued her studies not knowing that one day she would end up teaching, something she loved doing for the rest of her life.
Amazing to learn that three weeks after Mervin and Ethna got married, he went on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New England and she also decided to go on a mission as well. After their mission, they continue working and studying and even started a family. They both continue their schooling until they both received their Doctorate Degrees.
Dr. Reid, as she was known to thousands, developed the reading language arts program, Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI). ECRI played a primary role in the United States becoming a nation of readers. In the publication, "Implementing the Recommendations of "Becoming a Nation of Readers,"" Dr. Reid's program received the highest score of all 31 programs studied, in meeting the specific recommendations of the National Commission on Reading.
ECRI was validated as a developer/demonstrator project in the National Diffusion Network's Recognition Division of the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Reid was awarded the "Distinguished Professional Award" for her outstanding contributions toward the education of America's children. Dr. Lee Wickline, former Director, National Diffusion Network, U.S. Department of Education, wrote: "Dr. Reid has done more to improve the lives of teachers and children at the grassroots level than any other individual I met during my career in the U.S. Department of Education."
ECRI, recognized by two distinguished research organizations in 1997, was found to "produce significant measurable improvements in skills deemed important for student success." ECRI's research and data were released in publications of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and the Texas Center for Educational Research. In 2001 ECRI was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a School Reform Model for the nation, by the Education Commission of the States as an educational model, by AFT as a model reading/language arts program for regular and remedial classes, and in 2007 by the National Advisory Panel of the National Education Association and the National Staff Development Council as a model reading program that works in elementary, middle and high schools.
Reading research conducted by Dr. Reid has been nationally disseminated. Staff members have taught ECRI to teachers in 14 foreign countries, and Dr. Reid has personally taught teachers in 50 states, in Panama, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and the territories. Dr. Reid is co-author of a computer program called Keyboarding, Reading, Spelling (KRS), a second nationally validated project through the U.S. Department of Education. She also incorporated into ECRI a third project, Enriching a Child's Literacy Environment, which is a nationally validated program to teach parents and teachers how to teach young children. Dr. Reid is an author of the Random House Reading Program and 22 teacher texts in teaching reading and language arts, and coauthor of two other texts and three Informal Reading Inventory tests.
She was an adjunct assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Utah, a visiting professor at the University of California at Irvine, Santa Barbara, Davis, Santa Cruz, and Riverside, an adjunct professor of education in the University of North Carolina system, and taught classes at Brigham Young University, and Utah State University.
Dr. Reid was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association (IRA), and a former local and state president and state chairperson for IRA in Utah. She served on the Utah Governor's Task Force in Reading; was a consultant to the Scholastic Publishing Company Reading Diagnosis In-Service Program; and was an Associate of CPAL (Center for the Study of Pedagogy for African American Learners), and Editorial Advisory Board Member for the biweekly national newsletter "What Works in Teaching and Learning."
Ethna was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in numerous ward and stake callings. She made many life-long friends during her service in the Federal Heights Ward, of the Emigration Stake; as well as the East Millcreek 8th, Mt. Olympus 2nd, and Olympus Cove Ward, in the Mt. Olympus Stake. She was instrumental in the development of the Church Teacher Training Program, and loved her service on the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board, as the Chairperson of the Child Area Committee.
Mervin had always dreamed of having a ranch. In 1978 they heard about a piece of property in Duchesne, north of Fruitland, that was for sale. They purchased that property and the buildings on it. Mervin and Ethna worked side-by-side to improve the property, add more buildings, and provide water, and electricity to have a Reading Camp, as well as Church and Family Reunion groups. Reid Ranch is well-known for the opportunities it provides for youth groups, and families to spend time bonding and learning.
As each child married and grandchildren joined the family, Ethna wanted to provide them a marvelous education. In 1987 Ethna and Mervin started the Reid School. Her desire was to provide an ECRI Developer-Demonstrator School where her grandchildren and all interested families, could experience a rich educational experience. In 2009 her last grandchild graduated from Reid School and now some of her great grand-children attend.
Ethna and Mervin celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary, on June 3, 2019, surrounded by family and friends. What an incredible life well lived and what a wonderful legacy she left behind.
Con amor,
Vero
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