My name is Paul Berger and I have recently joined the Score 4 Reading team with a focus on managing the marketing effort. You can learn a bit about my background from my bio, but the bottom line is that I have spent the last sixteen years working with technology, education and knowledge-based companies, helping get important ideas, products and services out into the world.
I make my home in Eugene, OR, and have been involved with the entrepreneurial community for years. Currently, Eugene is fortunate to have an organization called the Smart-ups founded and run by a group of dynamic young entrepreneurs. I help out by reviewing executive summaries and presentations by new companies wanting to participate in Smart-ups events. That’s how I came to know about Score 4 Reading and to meet Dr. Jill Schwimmer.
I was part of a group asked to review company submissions and decide which businesses would be given an opportunity to make a pitch for potential investment and other help. When I read the summary that Jill submitted, I recognized the potential and importance of what she was trying to accomplish.
I learned that in the winter of 2005, Jill and a University of Oregon Ph.D. candidate in Education Leadership entered Score 4 Reading in a business plan competition at the University of Oregon. Score 4 Reading won the competition and the right to represent the University in an international competition of Pacific Rim Universities in Singapore, where it won second place for being “a socially significant, viable business.”
Having been involved with companies offering educational software and online services, I knew the marketing challenge Score 4 Reading faced. So I contacted Jill directly to see if there was a role I could play in moving the business forward. We met and instantly knew we were a good match. I was shown the materials, and Jill explained the theory that supported the program along with providing the evidence she had collected demonstrating the effectiveness of the program. I also learned that a good number of sales had already been made in Oregon to teachers who had attended trainings and workshops Jill had given over the past few years.
I’m excited to be a part of the Score 4 Reading story going forward. We recruited Jean Rogers to help us develop a website that would tell the Score 4 Reading story to a national audience of literacy educators. We also hope to develop an online community of Score 4 Reading program users through this site. Our new site provides us with the opportunity to blog and I will be a contributor going forward, letting readers know about important developments at Score 4 Reading. I will also be sharing some of the things I learn and resources I come across as I perform my marketing activities. I hope to hear from our website visitors and hopefully meet many of you at conferences or through webinars in the future.
Teacher testimonial
Hello Paul, I was a graduate student of Jill schwimmer at Pacific University. I now work in the Springfield School District. I consider my work with Dr. Schwimmer as one of the most important experiences I had as a classroom teacher. No matter what reading curricumum comes to me from the district, I ALWAYS strive to integrate her methods based on the simple fact that I know it works and the theories are sound. I've also used her Score 4 program with great success. The Springfield District should adopt Score 4 and implement it as an intervention for our struggling readers. If any Springfield parent is reading this, please respectfully ask your principal to look into this program.