Staff
Donna Siegle
Head of Academics/CEO
Donna Siegle is the Executive Coordinator of SOAR. She graduated from East Carolina University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education. Her NC Teaching License includes certifications in Special Education K-12, Reading K-12, and Regular Education K-6. She is currently in the process of obtaining further training and certification with the Orton Gillingham Approach to teaching. She has been a teacher for 23 years and has experience teaching in public schools, PRTFs (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility), and one-on-one tutoring in the states of North & South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Donna is passionate about teaching students with learning disabilities and has extensive training in working with children who have behavioral and emotional needs. She was diagnosed with dyslexia in her early 20s, after struggling in school from elementary school through college. Her own experiences as a learner with dyslexia gives her insight and a special ability to work with students who are frustrated with traditional instructional methods.
When not teaching, Donna enjoys being with her family, friends and dogs, photography, and collecting sea glass from beaches around the country.
Mary Beth Brandon
Director of Programs/COO
Mary Beth has over 18 years of experience teaching in various public and private classroom, program, and tutoring settings. She has worked in child development, teaching, running private school programs, and being a part of school administration teams. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Hawaii in Family Resources.
She has worked with children of all ages and has a true passion to help each individual child. She is also a mother of 3 children who each have special needs. Each of her children has one or a combination of learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism, anxiety, and more. As a community resource specialist, Mary Beth has been on all sides of the equation; parent, teacher, and special education specialist. Due to this, she is extremely committed to meeting the specific needs of each family and child. She is committed to helping guide families in the right direction to receiving evaluations, treatments, early interventions, medical needs, academic needs, school options, homeschool curriculum options and so much more.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children and family and adventuring in the outdoors.
Angela Anderson
Learning Specialist
Angela graduated from University of Central Florida in 2010 and has been tutoring children since 2011. In 2022, she joined SOAR’s amazing team and loves working with our students!
Angela currently teaches math and science, and continues to support her students as an after school tutor.
When she’s not teaching at SOAR, she is usually working out, gardening, or cooking.
Hillary Dunn
Learning Specialist
Hillary graduated from Earlham College with a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology in 1993. She has a background in non-profit work, living and working in rural Oaxaca, Mexico before settling down to raise a family.
When her daughter was diagnosed as dyslexic, she trained to tutor underprivileged children through the Augustine Project (now Read WS), and later became a Reading Interventionist with the WSFC school system. She has been trained in teaching English as a second language (TESOL) as well as Reading Research to Classroom Practice. She trained as an Orton Gillingham instructor under Henri Brown and Ron Yoshimoto.
Hillary currently teaches English Language Arts, and is loving working with our students!
Jennifer Dew
Social Media Manager
Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Business degree in Marketing Management and International Management from the University of New Mexico in 2000. She went on to work for Ford Motor Company in Los Angeles, California. After the September 11 attacks, Jennifer resigned her position and joined the US Air Force as a commissioned officer. After her separation from the military, Jennifer found her true passion in education. She earned her Master of Education in Teaching and Learning (Special Education) from Liberty University in 2018. Jennifer has 15 years teaching and tutoring children in the public, private, and homeschool settings.
Jennifer has homeschooled her own autistic children, ages 17, 13, and 8, for the last 12 years and knows and understands first-hand the importance of meeting unique individual needs as well as benefits and challenges of homeschooling.
She is Orton Gillingham Certified through the Dyslexia Training Institute and is a Certified Wilson Dyslexia Practitioner. Jennifer also has experience in adult literacy and teaching English as a Second Language to Spanish speakers.
When she is not teaching or tutoring children, she enjoys spending time with her family, taking spin classes, reading, crafting, and quilting.
Scott Denard
Learning Specialist
After being born and raised in Davie County, Scott graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2017 with a BA in Psychology. After college, he moved to Sebastopol, California, and began teaching Physical Education.
Four years later, Scott moved back and joined the SOAR team.
Outside of teaching, Scott enjoys outdoor activities, such as mountain biking, rock climbing, and backpacking.
Meagan Basham
Learning Specialist
Meagan graduated from Appalachian State University in 2021, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education (K-6). Meagan began her teaching career as an Exceptional Children’s teacher (K-5) with Davie County Schools and transitioned into the Regular Education setting where she taught second grade.
When Meagan is not teaching, she enjoys reading, going out for coffee, and being with her family and friends (along with her many pets)!