The Training System Behind Reading Write Alaska’s Life-Changing Teachers

Reading Write Alaska began not as a business plan but as a speech therapist's mission. In the early 2010s, founder Heather Walton was working out of her garage, treating kids who were struggling to read. What started with one therapist and a few students quickly outgrew the garage, then a small upstairs suite, then a second suite with the walls knocked down.

Today, that garage-born idea has become a statewide lifeline for families. Reading Write Alaska now operates three clinics in Anchorage, Eagle River, and Wasilla — with a brand-new 11,000-square-foot headquarters — and offers a wide range of services, from dyslexia intervention and structured literacy to speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, math support, and SAT prep.

But through all the growth, the mission never changed: to give every child the chance to learn with confidence.

By age 5, a child’s brain is already about 90% developed. And research shows the single most important school-based factor in their success is the quality of their teacher. Which means onboarding and training instructors isn’t just an operational necessity — it’s the bridge between a child’s potential and their future.

The challenges before Trainual

In the early years, policies lived in a thick binder first drafted in 2012. By 2020, more than 75% of it was outdated. New hires flipped through irrelevant procedures, with managers constantly scratching out old steps and replacing them with the “real way” things were done.

‍“We onboarded people with this binder, but we’d be telling staff, ‘scratch that policy, here’s how we actually do it.’”

Onboarding was equally painful. Ashly Beckes, Head of Operations and point-person for training, spent 16–18 hours in 1:1 sessions with each new hire — manually walking them through everything from EMR software to clinical basics. It turned every hire into a major drain on time and resources.

“Before Trainual, I had to clear my schedule for two weeks to get a new staff member up to speed. Now it’s really just one day — and the rest they work through in Trainual.”

And as the organization expanded, hiring remote staff before they moved to Alaska, the stakes only got higher.

The switch to Trainual

By late 2022, Ashly knew the binder days had to end. She discovered Trainual through webinars on onboarding and quickly saw the potential. Within just 10 days, she migrated their outdated binder into an online training system — breaking down processes into clear steps, adding screenshots, embedding videos, and linking directly to SharePoint resources. Even small touches like emojis and GIFs made dense content more approachable and memorable.

‍“What used to be a static binder is now a living playbook. It’s engaging, it’s searchable, and it keeps our team aligned.”

With Trainual in place, staff training became more than onboarding. It became the foundation of how Reading Write Alaska operates daily:

• Role-based paths ensure speech therapists, occupational therapists, literacy tutors, and admin staff each get training tailored to their jobs.
• Location-specific onboarding keeps content relevant for Anchorage, Eagle River, or Wasilla staff.
• Tests and accountability tools confirm comprehension and highlight where content needs improvement.
• Centralized resources make it easy for staff to find supplemental therapy materials in the moment they need them.

Click "Next" 👆 to see how Reading Write Alaska uses Trainual. Want a closer look? Click to explore the training in a new window.

Why is training different here?

Unlike most businesses where training is binary (‘click here to do X’), Reading Write Alaska’s challenge is training the instructors themselves. Their work is dense, nuanced, and deeply human. Every child learns differently. Every diagnosis has layers. And every instructor must be prepared to respond with skill and empathy — which means their onboarding has to go far beyond the basics.

“Our training is super, super dense. But Trainual makes it a little bit more fun — with checkmarks, emojis, even GIFs. It’s easier to remember, and it empowers staff to go forward with confidence.”

Accountability & improvement

For Reading Write Alaska, Trainual isn’t about training the kids — it’s about training the instructors who teach them. That’s why tests inside Trainual became more than just a checkbox. They’re a feedback loop for staff onboarding and professional development.

‍“There was one area where new staff were missing the same test question over and over. That told me my question was poorly worded or I needed to update the training. So I did — and the results improved.”

Now Ashly can track which instructors have completed their onboarding, reassign content when someone misses a step, and be certain that every team member has seen and understood the same material.

Expanding staff, solving shortages

Across the U.S., there’s a shortage of Speech-Language Pathologists. In Alaska, it’s even harder to recruit licensed professionals willing to relocate. Trainual gave Reading Write Alaska the blueprint to hire, train and empower Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs) — staff without master’s degrees who work under licensed SLPs.

“There’s a huge shortage of SLPs. With Trainual, assistants have the tools at their fingertips to succeed — and that means more kids get the support they need.”

Compliance without the headache

In healthcare, compliance isn’t optional — it’s essential. From HIPAA requirements to attorney-written employee handbooks, Reading Write Alaska has to make sure staff know the rules that protect both patients and the organization.

‍“HIPAA is a huge thing in the medical world, of course. And so last week we had a refresher on our HIPAA policies. We’re trained in it every year, but it’s handy to go through that every once in a while. And if we need to make an update, we can just instantly do that.”

Even their handbook — a liability safeguard written by an attorney — got new life in Trainual.

“I handed it to Trainual’s team, and they broke it up into bite-size pieces. Now our staff actually read it. They know the expectations, the PTO rules, all of it. And they don’t come back to me asking the same questions over and over.”

The impact that matters most

The ROI on efficiency is undeniable. But at Reading Write Alaska, the true return shows up in the lives of children.

Ashly has seen students transform in ways that still bring her goosebumps.

‍“One student went from crying through a passage in 3rd grade to reading her essay in front of her whole school by 6th grade. That’s the impact of competent training and consistent support.”

Stories like these are why training matters so much. Literacy isn’t just about words on a page — it’s the foundation of confidence, self-worth, and opportunity.

“Literacy is the pipeline to everything. If we can give kids confidence, they can thrive in school, graduate, and become leaders in the real world. Trainual helps us do that by making sure our staff are ready.”

For Ashly, this mission is personal. She’s not just maintaining a training system — she’s building a lifeline for kids who deserve a chance to believe in themselves. Heather, the founder, even told her: “This is your jam.”

And Ashly carries that pride with her everywhere she goes. Whether she’s at the ski hill, the baseball field, or the hockey rink, she finds herself talking about Trainual — not because it’s software, but because of what it makes possible.

“I brag on this company all the time. I really, really love it.”

TL;DR — The impact of Trainual at Reading Write Alaska

• Replaced a 200+ page outdated binder with an online training system in just 10 days
• Cut staff onboarding from two weeks to one day of manager time
• Built role- and location-based training paths for three clinics and multiple disciplines
• Made HIPAA refreshers and attorney-written policies engaging and compliant
• Uses accountability tools to ensure every staff member completes required training
• Enabled hiring of SLPAs, expanding capacity despite national shortages
• Turned onboarding into a recruiting edge and selling point with candidates
• Helped students build confidence — from dreading reading aloud to delivering essays in front of their schools

Looking ahead

With a new headquarters, a campaign to hire more therapists, and growing demand for their services, Reading Write Alaska continues to expand. And Trainual is right there with them — ensuring every new clinician, assistant, or tutor gets the same world-class training.

‍“When we interview, candidates ask, ‘What does onboarding look like?’ I can open Trainual and show them something contemporary and engaging. It’s a huge selling point.”

👉 Every child deserves a teacher who’s prepared to change their life. Book a demo and see how Trainual makes that possible.