Our Sales Consultants

Joye Sanchez, Regional Manager, has been an educator for nearly 40 years. In addition to teaching every grade from kindergarten through twelfth grade, she has worked as a reading supervisor for the San Antonio Independent School District and as a consultant for the Texas Education Agency, Education Service Centers in the state of Texas, and numerous educational publishers. Joye has presented on many topics in reading for local, state, and national conferences. She earned a master’s degree as a reading specialist from Texas State University in San Marcos.

Mary Wexler, Regional Manager, has worked in education for more than 25 years as a classroom teacher, professional development specialist, educational consultant, and sales consultant. Mary has managed district-wide implementations in educational technology, curriculum, and intervention programs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In addition, she works with teachers and administrators in various settings—public, private, independent, charter, and Catholic schools—to focus on curriculum adoption, integration, and implementation. Mary received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the State University of New York at Oswego and did postgraduate work in elementary education at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

Annette Balcom received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and speech pathology from Washington State University. For 32 years, she worked as a classroom teacher and an elementary reading specialist with a focus on primary grades and systematic phonics instruction. Annette facilitated the reading adoption for the fourth-largest district in the state of Washington, and she was appointed to the state’s reading leadership team, which helped teachers become proficient with the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. For more than 20 years, Annette has taught phonics classes to teachers, emphasizing games and activities that make learning fun.

Stacey Baytarian received a master’s degree in elementary education from Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. She has worked one-on-one with special-needs students in kindergarten and first grade, and she has been a kindergarten and fifth-grade classroom teacher. Upon leaving the classroom, Stacey entered elementary publishing, working with researchers and authors at Macmillan/McGraw-Hill to develop educational programs in diverse content areas. Stacey has worked closely with district administrators and teachers to determine the needs of teachers and students during the implementation of new instructional materials.

Pamela Cooper has been an executive sales representative for 18 years, the last 15 in educational publishing in Pennsylvania. She served as a secondary English teacher early in her career. Pamela received a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and holds a master’s degree from Wilkes-Barre University in Pennsylvania.

Tracy DiDio earned a master’s degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. She began her career as an elementary classroom teacher in Naples, Florida, working with ESL students. In addition, she has extensive sales experience with reading and other educational programs. Tracy worked for Houghton Mifflin for four years, and has also worked with Achieve3000, the educational technology company Lightspan, and most recently Origo Education, a supplemental math company.

Mary Eret began her career in Minneapolis as a third- and fourth-grade classroom teacher almost 20 years ago. She has also worked in educational technology, focusing on initiatives to help teachers integrate technology into the curriculum. Mary has designed workshops on topics such as multiculturalism, primary writing, and the process of scientific inquiry. She has also managed training programs and worked with development teams on curriculum requirements for technology programs. Mary earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with an early childhood concentration from Mayville State University in North Dakota and a master’s degree in business from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Joy Gess taught in a parochial school in Connecticut before entering educational publishing in 2000. Her experience with publishers of elementary materials fueled her passion for early reading. Earlier in her career she worked with Fortune 500 companies developing and delivering training programs. Joy holds a bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart University and a master’s degree from Milano, the New School for Public and Urban Policy in New York City.

Debbie Gilstrap received a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and is a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT). She has taught both general education and special education for more than 10 years. In her private practice, Debbie has worked with students on improving reading and comprehension skills, study skills, and test-taking strategies.

Gary Kistner has worked in education for over 25 years as a classroom teacher and sales representative. Gary has worked for Rigby, Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley, and most recently McGraw-Hill. Gary has spent his entire sales career working in the state of New Jersey where he has enjoyed much success. He earned an undergraduate degree in elementary education from Fairleigh Dickinson University–Florham.

Melissa Martinsen received a master’s degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, and holds certification for specific learning disabilities (K-12) and elementary education (1-8). She began her career in Grafton, Ohio, teaching pullout students in a fourth-grade learning resource center and coteaching in a regular classroom. In both environments, she taught basic reading skills with individual modifications and an emphasis on phonics. Melissa also taught first grade for five years in Grafton and Cincinnati, where she also served on the primary curriculum committee. For the past 10 years, she has worked in sales, mainly in pharmaceuticals with Merck and PDI.

Marissa Noguez has a degree in elementary education from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She was an elementary teacher at Villa Madonna School in St. Petersburg Diocese and at Sanders Elementary in the Pasco County School System. While at Sanders, she received the Teacher of the Year award. Marissa has a wide variety of experience in educational publishing, including positions as Director of Intervention Reading, Product Manager, and Consultant Manager.

Susan Quarino has been in education for more than 17 years. She earned an undergraduate degree in education from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s in educational supervision and management from National-Louis University in Lisle, Illinois, and she has completed additional postgraduate coursework in reading. Susan has taught regular, ESL, special-needs, deaf/hard-of-hearing, and gifted students. She spent six years serving in dual school and district administrative roles as an assistant principal, summer school principal, coordinator for special education, and district trainer. Susan also served as a consultant for McGraw-Hill.

Hirva Raj received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She began her career as a teacher at Sylvan Learning Center, working with at-risk students and students with disabilities. She has been in educational publishing for nine years, holding positions as a product marketing manager, supervising editor, and consultant.

Valerie Stofac Ritchey has dedicated over 30 years to the education of young children. She received a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University and a bachelor’s from Bowling Green State University. Her 14 years of classroom experience includes teaching prekindergarten, kindergarten, elementary, ELD, special-needs, and gifted students. While teaching she was awarded the Phi Delta Kappa Educator of the Year Award, and was a published author of educational materials. She has served as a Western Regional Consultant and National Literacy Consultant and specializes in working with districts to meet their academic goals and challenges.

Sandra Welander-McCartney has worked in education for more than 30 years as a classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, reading specialist, and educational consultant. She has presented at educational conferences and school boards, developed ongoing district professional development, and managed district language arts implementations. She spent 10 years in educational publishing with Rigby, Harcourt, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She was Salesperson of the Year for the western region in 2001 and 2007. Sandra received a bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and completed postgraduate work at Morningside College and the University of Northern Iowa.