OUR COACH
Stephany Anderson, Ed. D.
A National Board Certified Teacher with an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Masters Certificate in Teaching Reading to grades 6-12, and nearly 30 years of experience in the classroom, Stephany blends research, narrative, and practice to transform literacy learning.
Stephany is a dedicated educator committed to literacy and her students. She began her teaching career in 1999, following ten years of work with at-risk youth in the United States and abroad. She has taught Language Arts and Social Studies; coached drama, speech, and debate; and mentored students in Model UN, History Day, and Junior Historian Competitions. She served as her district’s secondary literacy specialist and instructional coach before retiring from public education.
Stephany has contributed to state-level standards reviews, district-wide literacy initiatives and mentors the next generation of educators through the Wyoming Mentor Corp.
She was awarded the Arch Coal Teaching Award in 2012, served as a Fulbright TGC Fellow in 2014, and was Wyoming's History Teacher of the Year in 2021.
Stephany enjoys networking across districts to learn and share both strategies and knowledge that support students. She is also as an adjunct instructor for Grand Canyon University and a temporary instructor for the University of Wyoming.
OUR SERVICES
At Our Essential Story, we nurture adolescent readers by providing coaching rooted in the science of reading and grounded in community values, traditions, and lived experiences.
EXPERIENCE
Stephany is a veteran literacy educator, coach, and mentor. She blends research, storytelling, and practical instruction to strengthen literacy learning. Her career spans teaching, instructional coaching, state and district literacy leadership, university instruction, and mentoring new educators,
ACCOUNTABILITY
At Our Essential Story we value meaning making, story, empowerment, mentorship, evidence-based practice, collaboration, and equity
TESTIMONIALS
Success Stories
Stephany was highly effective in collaborating with secondary teachers to strengthen instructional practices, improve literacy outcomes for students, and launching the Literacy Lab at Cody High School.
Tim Foley
Park 6
Across years and grades, Lit Lab often hits the 0.4–0.8 range—very solid for real-world educational interventions.
Lit Lab Pilot Study
data analysis team
U of C - Irvine
Stephany actively cultivated a thriving peer-learning culture—one in which teachers felt safe, supported, and motivated to improve their practice.
Joshua Lawrence
Reading Ways
OUR MISSION
Building curiosity, confidence, and connection.
At Our Essential Story, We grow more than readers. We grow meaning-makers who merge their stories with the texts they read because stories shape how we see ourselves, how we connect with others, how we read, and how we learn.
We partner with students, parents, and educators. Together, we explore the science of middle and high school reading in ways that build curiosity, confidence, and connection. When reading and writing instruction is rooted in real experiences and meaningful stories—from families, classrooms, and communities—students become better readers as well as engaged thinkers and storytellers who strengthen their communities and the world around them.
