ABOUT US

Our History

Great Leaps has been family-owned and operated since 1995 and impacted over 600,000 students lives. Through this time, we have kept the success of our students at the heart of everything we do.

"Our mission is to empower the minds and shape the futures of our students to enable them to achieve their full potential through simple and effective educational programs."

Success breeds success and necessity is the mother of invention. The story of Great Leaps starts like so many, with humble beginnings. In 1991 a teacher by the name of Ken Campbell was leading a special needs classroom in rural central Florida. Ken grew frustrated as he observed how both classroom time and the tools provided were ineffective for his students. Like other great teachers before him, Ken sacrificed his own time and money to create and test solutions for his students and ultimately was able to reach all 100 students that were behind in reading with the help of staff and volunteers working one-on-one.

His efforts were successful right from the start. The catalyst that made Great Leaps a recognized program was a routine visit from a leading University of Florida Professor, Dr. Cecil Mercer. During the professor's visit he overheard a student ask the principal to move an assembly time “so that it would not interfere with his reading lesson.” WOW! This would get any teachers attention and the professor promptly asked for some copies of Ken's program for conducting trials at a High School in Gainesville, Florida. The trial was a huge success. Dr. Mercer then proudly presented the data and the initial program at the Learning Disabilities Association Conference in Chicago and the rest is history.

Today, Great Leaps is in all fifty states and in over forty countries. Proudly, Ken’s gifts have helped over half a million children and growing simply because it works. Ken has unlocked the code to literacy through combining the science of reading with precision teaching bring our students remarkable growth time and time again!

About The Author

Ken Campbell's 36 year teaching career and his extensive study of accomplished academic researchers certainly adds credibility to the highly effective Great Leaps programs, but his passion to help children is really the driving force behind the company and its growth. Although he will always be a teacher at heart, there came a time when Great Leaps allowed his impact on students to grow beyond teaching one classroom at a time. So the accidental entrepreneur was born.

When he's not in the office Ken enjoys a deep connection with family history through his study of Scotland and his ancestors. Once fall comes around, you can catch him cheering on his alma mater, the University of Florida, clad in orange and blue. Ken continues to write short stories and novels in his free time but most importantly, he enjoys spending time with his wife Diana, three kids, and 6 grandkids either on the beaches of St. Augustine or simply relaxing at home. He is a strong believer in the power of community and developed Great Leaps to be easy enough for virtually anyone to teach a child to read and leave a lasting impact on their life.

Meet Our Team

Recognizing our team for the hard work and dedication our small team puts in to support the success of thousands of students!

IN MEMORIAM

Dr. Cecil Mercer

1943 - 2014

Great Leaps Reading would not have had the impact on the number of students it has had it not been for the dedication and influence of my professor, mentor, and friend, Cecil Mercer. He discovered Great Leaps while visiting a school, saw it in action, and then brought it to his University Florida and Gainesville. From there, he gathered data and wrote a seminal article for Learning Disabilities Research and Practice. His sharing of the data helped spread Great Leaps nationwide.