Lauren Marshall M.S., Ed. is a graduate of Salem State University with a degree in Elementary Education and Psychology, and has been with Peer Projects - Therapy from the Heart since 2011. She has also earned her Masters as a Reading Specialist through Gordon College in 2016 where she was trained in Orton-Gillingham. Lauren has also been trained in Visualizing and Verbalizing which is a Lindamood-Bell program which she incorporates into many of her sessions. Lauren started her career with children as a Preschool Lead Teacher at Majestic Harbor Community School in Gloucester while working towards her B.A. She has been a substitute teacher in all elementary and middle school grades for Gloucester and Beverly public schools as well as in Orlando, FL. She has worked as a Head Start teacher at Pathways for Children in Gloucester, as a third grade teacher at St. Ann School, also in Gloucester, and as a first grade teacher at Sacred Heart School in Lynn. She was introduced to Peer Projects through a training she attended while working at Pathways. Lauren has really enjoyed working at PPTFTH as a reading tutor, social group leader, and also helping out in the office.
Katie Vitas M.S., CCC-SLP, CEIS has been practicing as a Speech and Language Pathologist since graduating from Emerson College in 2006. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at James Madison University with minors in Special Education and Spanish. Katie worked in Early Intervention in Cambridge and Somerville, MA for two years where she met Linda; they worked closely until Linda left to commit to her private practice full time. In 2007, Katie pursued her aspirations to become a Reading Specialist, knowing this would complement her speech and language background. In May 2011, Katie received her Certificate of Advanced Study in Reading from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. As part of her reading studies, Katie received her Wilson Reading Program certification while working in the Wellesley Public Schools at a K-5 elementary school. Throughout her four years working as an SLP in Wellesley, Katie continued her professional development by participating in an eight week training course on Thinking Maps®, training in Project Read Written Expression: Framing Your Thoughts®, and Visualizing and Verbalizing®, along with workshops and studies in others areas such as Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social curriculum. Throughout her career, Katie has worked with clients ranging from toddlers to young adults with a variety of speech and language challenges including, articulation, stuttering, apraxia, receptive and expressive language, executive functioning, auditory processing and social thinking. Katie has particular interests in the areas of receptive and expressive language, related to reading and writing challenges, as well as the area of social thinking. In addition, collaborating with a child’s family and team is an essential component to any therapy and one that Katie holds in high regard. Katie has enjoyed working as a part of the Peer Projects - Therapy from the Heart team since September 2013. A more flexible, part time schedule has proven to be the perfect balance of career involvement and spending time raising her two young sons at home.
Sara Zion M.S., CCC-SLP has been a Speech-Language Pathologist since she graduated from the MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2006. She was drawn to the field by multiple factors, including her own struggles with speech and learning issues, her study of Linguistics in college and her work at a Lindamood-Bell reading clinic. Sara has always been interested in the connection between spoken and written communication disorders, and pursued a secondary certification in reading during her graduate studies. She has training in social pragmatics and is also proficient in the Spanish language, having studied abroad in Bolivia as part of her Spanish major in college. She has experience working with children and adolescents with autism, learning disabilities, articulation disorders and apraxia in both public schools and private clinics. She is currently working full-time for the Salem Public Schools. She was thrilled to join Peer Projects - Therapy from the Heart in September 2015. She is passionate about pursuing pottery in her free time.