Leadership

President 

Ronda Fritz

Ronda Fritz is an Associate Professor of Education, specializing in elementary education and early literacy instruction. Prior to coming to EOU, Ronda was a K-12 teacher for 19 years. She taught kindergarten, Title I Reading, middle school Language Arts, 4th and 5th grade, and ended her K-12 teaching career as a Reading specialist, where she discovered a passion for developing systems and interventions for improving outcomes for struggling readers. This passion led her to University of Oregon’s Special Education department where she received her Ph.D. in 2016. Her research interests include prevention and intervention of reading difficulties, teacher preparation, and the link between behavior and academic outcomes. Ronda is currently investigating the validity and reliability of an observation tool for measuring instructional implementation in small group interventions.

Ronda currently serves as President for the Oregon Council for Exceptional Children. She is also a member of the Council for Learning Disabilities and serves as a mentor for early career faculty who are members of the Council.

Vice President

James Sinclair

Secretary

Luisa Lowry

Luisa Lowry is a special services teacher and started her tenth year teaching this fall.  Luisa has her bachelor's degree in early childhood education; master's degree in special education; and education specialist degree in administration.  She has worked in Idaho and Oregon as both a special and general education teacher.  Luisa has served on the Idaho CEC executive board as the secretary and president of the Idaho CCBD.  She is currently secretary for the Oregon CEC board.  When not in school, Luisa enjoys being with her family, gardening, canning, and feeding people home made goodies.

Treasurer

Kate Aly-Brady

Kate has been a special education teacher in Eugene for 17 years. She earned her bachelor's degree in special education from East Carolina University, and a master's from the University of Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys playing in water, taking videos of her cat with cerebellar hypoplasia (ask her about it...if you have an hour to spare!), and listening to live music with her husband.

CAN Coordinator

Kristin Lieheimer

Member-at-Large

Lee DeCouteau

Lee is a Speech Language Pathologist who enjoys working with students and families to support improved communication and reducing barriers to educational equity.  When not working, Lee is often dabbling in watercolors or visiting the Oregon Coast.

Member-at-Large

Christina Wagner

Starting as a para-educator, she found a new passion for the Special Education Field.  In 2019, Christina completed a two-year Master of Teaching, Special Education, degree at Western Oregon University and she now works as a Special Education Teacher with one of the largest school districts in the state.  Her motto is, "If I stop learning, I need to stop teaching".  She feels that being an educator means you must always be willing to learn and grow with the world around you.

Are you interested in becoming apart of the CEC leadership team? 

Contact us! We would love to have your input!