Lee Rech, Executive Director, interim

Lee was hired by the All Ears! BOD to serve as interim Executive Director in February, 2019. Prior to taking on this position, she was a founding member of the All Ears! Board of Directors in 2014 and served as Board Chair for the organization for nearly 5 years.

Lee received her B.A., with Distinction, from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her J.D. from South Texas College of Law in Houston, where she participated on Law Review.  After graduation, Lee practiced in the field of medical malpractice defense with the boutique firm of Hanen, Alexander, Johnson & Spalding in Houston. Following ten years as a stay at home mom after the birth of her daughter, Lee returned to the practice of law in 2008 as a Special Prosecutor. In 2009, she was elevated to Chief of the Civil Division, Special Prosecution Unit of Texas, managing the busy office of 8 attorneys, paralegals, investigators and clerical staff, until 2013, when she chose to once again leave the work force to stay at home through her daughter’s high school years.

Lee has been personally committed to the mission of teaching deaf children how to listen and talk, and of creating awareness of the listening and spoken language option, since her daughter was born profoundly deaf in 1997.   With early diagnosis, appropriate amplification and aggressive AVT, Anna was mainstreamed into a hearing pre-school before she turned 3 years old, was an honor student throughout her large public high school years, and is now a confident and independent college student at University of Houston, who never misses an opportunity to talk.  About anything! As Executive Director, Lee and the highly qualified staff of All Ears! are dedicated to duplicating the model that worked for Anna to ensure All Ears! children have the best chances for spoken language, literacy and independence.

Since Anna’s birth, Lee and her husband, Steve have been active advocates for educational and social issues impacting children who are deaf and hard of hearing. She served on the board of directors of the Alexander Graham Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language, 2014-2018.  Together, she and her husband, Steve, were named 2014 Honorees of Houston’s Center for Hearing and Speech and served as Gala Chairs in 2008.  Lee is also a past member of the board of directors of the Houston Ear Research Foundation.

Shelley Mathay, B.S. ed., LSLS Cert. AVT

Shelley Mathay graduated from Kent State University with a B.S in Deaf Education in 1993. She moved to Texas and began teaching for Conroe Independent School District. She has worn many hats during her career for CISD. She has been a classroom teacher, itinerant teacher, parent-infant advisor and lead teacher. Her passion for teaching listening and language skills and love of teaching families led her to obtain her Auditory Verbal Certification. Shelley’s dream of a preschool for deaf and hard of hearing children in the midst of a typical preschool has become a reality. She is the Program Director at All Ears! Listening and Language Center.

Laura Beattie, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Mentee

Laura received a bachelor’s degree in Communicative Disorders with a minor in Early Childhood Development from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She then received her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University, where she completed a specialty track in Pediatric Hearing Loss.

Laura has received training in early language intervention and parent coaching through the Hanen Centre’s It Takes Two to Talk program, and she is a member and certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She is currently pursuing LSLS Auditory Verbal Therapy certification and is excited to be working with the children and families at All Ears!

Elizabeth Gaffney, MED, LSLS Cert. AVEd

Elizabeth is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Certified Auditory Verbal Educator. Elizabeth holds both a bachelors and a masters degree in Education of the Deaf from Vanderbilt University. She serves All Ears! as the Listening and Spoken Language Coordinator. She is co-author of Auditory Verbal Strategies to Build Listening and Spoken Language Skills, a resource for both parents and professionals.  Previously, Elizabeth worked as a preschool teacher and Auditory Enrichment teacher in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, and a preschool teacher at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Meleesa Halling, M. DEHS, Certified Teacher of the Deaf, LSLS Mentee

Meleesa Halling received her undergraduate degree from the University of St. Thomas in Elementary Education and her master’s degree in Deaf Education and Hearing Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.  Her experience includes teaching music to children with hearing loss and their hearing peers from preschool through fifth grade, serving as a Language Facilitator at Parent Nurturing Classes, and teaching various summer programs.  Since 2016, she has been a teacher at All Ears! Listening and Language Center, teaching students of various ages to develop listening and language skills and impacting their families.  Constantly seeking new ways to best help our families, she is furthering her studies by attending various seminars and workshops in addition to obtaining her Auditory Verbal Certification.

“My dream has always been to make a difference in the lives of others, and my greatest joy is watching
my students grow in all areas and being a part of the miracle of hearing.”  – Meleesa Halling

Suzanne Kehlenbeck, Certified Teacher of the Deaf

Suzanne Kehlenbeck earned her degree in Deaf Education from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

She taught pre-school hearing impaired children in Conroe ISD for 31 years. Suzanne recently retired from CISD but continues to use her experience to help hearing impaired children learn at All Ears! Listening and Language Center.

She continues to follow her passion of working with children and their families to develop listening and language skills through talking, music, stories and everyday activities.

Mi’kel Price, MED, LSLS Mentee

Mi’kel received a bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She then received her master’s degree in Communication Disorders and Deaf Education with a Listening and Spoken Language Emphasis, Hearing Impairment Endorsement and a 0-5 Early Childhood Special Education teaching license from Utah State University.

Mi’kel has worked with children who are deaf or hard of hearing in both home and school based settings. She has a passion in empowering parents to take the driver’s seat in their child’s learning, and is eager to help parents feel confident in their own ability to make their home the best language and listening rich environment for their child!

Gabby Kelley, Teaching Assistant