Marj Jones, Ed. D
Executive Director, Arizona Literacy and Learning Center

The Arizona Literacy and Learning Center (ALLC), is representative of the birth and growth of a RiteCare® Childhood Language Center.

Present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Arizona Literacy and Learning Center (ALLC) are: (back row, l. to r.) Jim Wendorf, Executive Director, National Center for Learning Disabilities; Ill. Robert F. Hannon, 33°, SGIG in Arizona; Tom Horne, Superintendent of Schools, Arizona Department of Education; Ill. Russell Cloud, 33°, GC, President, Scottish Rite Foundation of Arizona; Ill. Ronald A. Seale, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander; Ill. Boyd Clements, 33°, ALLC Board President; Ill. Gene Brown, 33°, Scottish Rite Foundation Founding Member; Dr. Marj Jones, ALLC Executive Director; MW W. Thomas Brooker, 32°, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Arizona; Ill. John R. Amidon, 33°; Personal Representative, Valley of Phoenix; and (front row) ALLC clients. Photo: Gina Harrop, Gina Harrop Photography

As a history buff, when I think of Masons, I think of those talented men who built the beautiful European cathedrals, of those who participated in the medieval guild seeking to share morals and morality, and those who clearly valued the importance of all individuals. I envisioned these men as the “dreamers” who brought wonderful ideas into reality.

Working with Phoenix Scottish Rite Masons always has been a dream. These modern builders had a vision of a Phoenix Scottish Rite Speech and Language Center but questioned why the Tucson Valley was able to start a center and not them. Before the old Arizona rivalry between cites took place, Ill. S. Barry Casey, 33°, then SGIG in Arizona, gave his blessings to the Phoenix dreamers, and the Phoenix Scottish Rite Foundation (SRF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity, was founded to support the Phoenix Scottish Rite Learning Center.

These dreamers met early mornings in a local Humpty Dumpty’s Restaurant. (Where better to plan a childhood center?) Quickly the planners enclosed two rooms in the Masonic Temple, and the Childhood Center was born with one office, a multi-purpose treatment room, and a budget of $12,000. Dr. Marj Jones and Debbie Shoop, CCC-SLP, part-time therapists, started a preschool screening program to help find children who were at risk for developmental delays. Believing in the dream, the Arizona State Department of Health offered the services of another Speech Pathologist and an Audiologist. Soon several of the Masons and their wives were trained to do hearing and vision tests. Once children were tested, the dream moved on with therapists offering in-home speech therapy.

The dream continued to expand when the new Phoenix S. R. Board found the need to add Dyslexia Programming for both children and adults to the Center’s menu of services. While referrals mushroomed for the Center’s Special Services, budgets started to reach $100,000. The Center moved out of its two rooms at the Masonic Temple and into the El Zaribah Shrine Center.

By 1996, the dream of a new building for the Center began with Ill. Bob Hannon, 33°, now SGIG in Arizona, Gene Brown, 33°, and architect, Eric Leibsohn, 32°, KCCH. Board Members, led by John Amidon as the Project Coordinator, met with Center Staff and Eric to begin nine years of dreaming, sketching, drawing, buying sites, moving sites, and struggling with the City of Phoenix and the Federal Emergency Management Authority over flood-plane issues. (Yes, it does rain in Phoenix!)

The DREAM became a reality, on January 29, 2005, as architect Eric Leibsohn, declared in the Arizona Grand Lodge Dedication Ceremony that the building was indeed, “built by the proper specification and was square!” To celebrate the dream, Grand Commander Ronald A. Seale joined with the Arizona Grand Lodge in the dedication of the 6,000-square-foot building now housing the Phoenix Scottish Rite offices and the newly-named Arizona Literacy and Learning Center (ALLC).

MW Brooker and SGC Seale preside over the dedication of the Phoenix Scottish Rite Learning Center, which took place next door in an empty undeveloped office condo due to a rain storm. The rain eventually stopped and the sun came out for the actual ribbon cutting.

The ALLC is a community-supported RiteCare® Center. Others joining in the celebration were Arizona Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne, and James Wendorf, Executive Director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). The NCLD has selected the ALLC as its regional training center for preschool screening services.

The Phoenix team has built a flagship learning center complete with a Hearing/Audiology Center, facilities for Speech, Language, and Dyslexia diagnosis and treatment, and classrooms for therapy and parent- teacher instruction. On top of that, the center is debt-free! Parents, Interns, and teachers may sit in offices with therapists and view and hear children with other therapists on video monitors. The Dyslexia and Conference Room is state-of-the-art with all types of multi-media services plus video conferencing.

The ability to construct this center debt-free is due, in large part, to the diligent efforts of Bro. Jeff Cutler, 32°. His professional and creative financial guidance has provided the Phoenix S. R. Bodies with the means to complete this project and continue to provide the highest level of service and programs to its members.

I give a special thank you to all the Scottish Rite and community dreamers and donors. The dream grew, the space grew, the services grew, and our numbers grew! The center served 9,185 clients in 2003–2004. Don’t stop dreaming—the waiting list for services varies between 60–100 clients monthly.

History has repeated itself; the Phoenix Scottish Rite Masons have built what parents believe to be the modern version of a “Cathedral of Hope.” The Valley of Phoenix is not a medieval guild, but a modern-day organization that turns dreams into realities as it touches the lives of individuals who struggle with speech, language, and reading.

Marj Jones became the Executive Director of the Arizona Literacy and Learning Center after 30 years in public schools. She has a BA in Speech and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Arizona State University. She received her Doctor of Education Degree from Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Dr. Jones is a member of the City of Phoenix Early Learning Connections Advisory Council and an educational colleague in the Institute for Developmental and Behavioral Neurology Study Group.