About our Founder
"I have the best job in the world!"
Lori Herrick, Founder and President of The Need To Read, brings over two decades of expertise in reading instruction. With a Master’s in Education and Counseling from the University of Dayton, she is also a licensed K-12 Intervention Specialist with a Reading Endorsement. Lori's career spans 22 years of helping students of all learning styles thrive in reading. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University and furthered her artistic studies at SACI, Studio Art Centers International, in Florence, Italy.
Throughout her career, Lori Herrick has dedicated herself to transforming the lives of students who once struggled with the essential skill of reading. Early in her teaching career, she was confronted with an astonishing truth: more than half of her students in grades four through eight could not read at even a first-grade level. The realization that these bright, capable students were unable to grasp the basic literacy needed to succeed, left a deep and lasting impact on her.
While others around her offered little hope, suggesting she "do the best you can," Lori couldn't accept leaving her students without the tools to navigate the world. Her determination to empower her students led her to the Stevenson Learning Skills program, a groundbreaking method that revolutionized her approach to teaching reading. With its structured, multisensory techniques, Lori saw remarkable growth in her students—many of whom had failed with other methods. Not only did they learn to read, but they also developed vocabulary, comprehension, and writing skills, transforming their academic futures.
The journey didn’t end there. Over the years, Lori combined the Stevenson program with other well-known methods, sharpening her ability to diagnose and address learning obstacles. She developed her own techniques to help even the most struggling readers, continually refining her approach to ensure success for all her students. Additionally, her time training under Bill Stevenson, Managing Editor of Stevenson Learning Skills, proved invaluable. With over a decade of mentorship, Bill helped Lori navigate some of the most challenging cases, further cementing her reputation as an exceptional reading educator.
Lori’s passion for helping struggling readers grew into a calling. She worked with a diverse range of students. She often stated, “I have the best job in the world!” Her adaptability, empathy, and relentless pursuit of solutions allowed her to succeed with students who others had deemed "unreachable."
Yet, even as she thrived in the classroom, Lori found herself brimming with ideas for broader educational impact. The decision to leave teaching was difficult—the hardest of her career—but it was one born from a desire to scale her work and help even more students and teachers beyond the walls of her own classroom.
Today, Lori continues to inspire educators, students, and parents alike with her story, her expertise, and her unwavering commitment to literacy.
Please feel free to reach out to Lori at lori@theneedtoread.org
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