Daily Inspiration: Meet Loralee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Loralee.

Hi Loralee, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico and through my humble beginnings I learned at a very young age the ethics of hard work that served me well later in life. I am also a retired military spouse to my high school sweetheart, James Panagakis. While my husband served active duty as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, I earned my BA degree in Elementary Education from UNC Wilmington, and my M.Ed Reading Specialist degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. I have been fortunate to achieve my scholarly goals and have also completed my 2nd M.Ed. degree in Educational Leadership “with distinction”, a 4.0 GPA , from Arizona State University. Although I am a 15 generation Native New Mexican, I am the first person in my family to graduate high school, pursue and graduate college. It was always a goal of mine to lead by example that with commitment and hard work -anything is possible.

Although our two children are grown, they are still our pride and joy! My 28-year-old daughter, Jade, is an ASU Alumni with a BS degree in Biological Sciences (Conservation Biology and Ecology). My 21 year-old son, James Jr., currently attends ASU majoring in Aerospace Engineering (Aeronautics) on his full ride scholarship, and will be graduating this May of 2026.

Today I am working on my Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with the University of Arizona. Within my research, I seek others that have also overcome hardships that can be of resource for others to learn from as well. I also seek to help others understand the multi-layers of cultural identities within the Southwest region to better meet the needs of students, and their literacy outcomes.
As an educational community leader, I hold myself accountable to assure our students receive a just education. Currently as a National Board Certified Teacher and Reading Specialist, I focus on cultural responsive practices, Multi-Tier Systems of Support, structured literacy, and personalized instruction. It is because of my New Mexican-Genizara heritage, I have intertwined my resilience and my cultural experience with my passion for inspiring youth. I create equitable learning experiences for all students, as well as advocate for all families to take partnership in their child’s learning.
Teaching students, families, and staff through a deeper level of curriculum inclusion and understanding the funds of knowledge our students and families bring forth are crucial for developing mutual relationships.

I am currently a Reading Interventionist for ASU Preparatory Academy serving at-risk students in grades 3rd-5th.

I also serve as the Vice President for our chapter in formation -The Reading League of Arizona. Our mission is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction to benefit all Arizona learners. I am looking forward to formalizing our chapter in January of 2026! I strongly believe that literacy is a fundamental human right. I seek to disrupt inequity and injustice by supporting literacy endeavors in underserved communities.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Growing up in New Mexico I had very few teachers that looked like me or spoke like me. There was very little resources available to help me navigate school systems and resources, although I can recall I had dreams of accomplishing Social Justice for our community at the age of 8. At this very young age I knew things needed to change in our Chicano/Genizaro communities because I didn’t see district leaders that looked like us to fix the problems that have trailed in our communities for centuries.

Like many native New Mexicans, if there was any struggle, it was always a shared experience and responsibility to overcome with others in our comunidad (community).

As a young U.S. Navy wife, I quickly pivoted to using my resiliency towards navigating military life while my husband deployed to Iraq and other places around the world. Within my 20 years as a military spouse, I learned that these unknown challenges were brought forth building and rebuilding personal support systems to defy isolation. Some known challenges such as deployments, emotional uncertainty of deployments, raising children alone, going to school full time while also working full time, the cultural adjustments to new communities, and of course supporting my husband while in harm’s way -all were done through community kinship.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Currently as a reading specialist, I provide reading intervention for at-risk students in literacy. The majority of my students are either first or second generation students, English language learners, and some are fluent bilinguals in both English and Spanish. Sometimes students have experienced trauma and struggle to put forth their efforts into learning when they are in survival mode. My role as a reading interventionist is to also consider other factors that may contribute towards their struggles, and to help them navigate these resources successfully.

As an Multi-tier Systems of Support (MTSS) coordinator, I also strive to bridge the gap between families and school to best support each student with meeting their needs.

I am most proud of the students that accomplish their end of year goals. Throughout the year I actively listen and create small goals towards their end of year goals with them. We celebrate those small wins and we create more tasks for them to actively work towards their end of year goal. I make the parent phone calls to share a positive note, or mail a positive post card home to share my motivation for learning. In this process students and families see how goals and dreams come true with determination and hard work.
I also determine where a particular student is in the developmental process and where the student needs to progress. I seek extended support from our campus or network resources to provide the appropriate intervention, contexts, instructional engagement learning pathways, and materials for each student’s learning.

As a National Board Certified teacher in Literacy, I know that each student’s development is a unique and highly individual process which is influenced by a variety of factors. I know that each students’ language acquisition, literacy development, as well as acquisition of new languages, occur along the continuum. These areas of development do not take place in linear steps. As a cheerleader for my students working towards their goals, I recognize each student’s knowledge, skills, and abilities that emerge in purposeful ways, and bring light to those assets for them to also see.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Many acknowledgements go towards my supporters, cheerleaders, mentors and teammates that have taken a part of this educational leadership journey with me. My kind and loving husband of almost 30 years this coming March 2026, James Panagakis, who has worked tirelessly most of his life to provide for our family while I pursued my scholarly goals, and contribute towards the continued growth and development of my students, colleagues, schools, and the
field of literacy education.

My two children, Jade and James Jr., have motivated me to keep going because I wanted them to see that education is the answer. Most of all, my love for them has kept me strong during the most difficult times.

The mentors that have made a significant impact over the course in my professional career include Dr. Martin Ley, Dr. Alana Baarda, Mia Damiani, Junius Yates, Nichole Perez, and Dr. Damon Twist. Their unwavering support for me to stay grounded, continue with excellence and to keep going will forever be taken with gratitude.

My teammates I have worked with over the years have been supportive in both of my personal and professional life. Brie Whitneybell has always been there from the beginning. We even started our doctoral programs nearly the same time, and continue to lean on each other for support when needed. Judy Beck always had a listening ear and provided substantial support during those times my husband deployed without knowing it.
I am grateful for their friendship and professional partnership.

I also must share my gratitude for my Genizaro ancestors who came before me. They persevered through injustice and hardship; I can only hope that my life’s work can reflect their stories and livelihood through their resilience.
We are still here.

Contact Info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loraleepanagakis/