The Shreveport Bossier Center has received dozens of awards at the annual LearningRx Convention since the opening of the center in 2008. These include earning the Community Impact Award every year, with the honor of being the #1 center in multiple years. The center has also earned the LearningRx Customer Service Award each year since opening. Donesa Walker was voted Franchisee of the Year twice and has received the LearningRx Founders Award, the Glia Award, the PaceSetter Award, the Accelerator Award, and the International Compass Award for being the top LearningRx center globally! The LearningRx Shreveport center was the first Board Certified Cognitive Center in the State of Louisiana and in the LearningRx system. Locally, the Shreveport Bossier Center has earned the BBB Torch Award for Customer Commitment and is yearly recognized as a top community award member by LocalsLoveUs as well as receiving many other community awards. The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce has honored the center as Small Business of the Year, Top Business Innovation Award, and Excellence in Client Solutions Award. Executive Director and Owner Donesa Walker has been honored locally as Small Business Owner of the Year, an Athena nominee, and the Franchisee Choice Award by IACT. She also serves on many local and national boards.
Donesa Walker
Executive Director
Owner
Dyslexia and Reading Specialist
Board Certified Cognitive Specialist
Donesa opened LearningRx in 2008 with a passion for training the brain to conquer the underlying deficits that cause dyslexia, largely due to a condition in her own family. Donesa received her Masters of Education from UT Tyler and is a certified Master Reading Teacher and Dyslexia Specialist. She has over 30 years of experience in teaching and administration. Donesa is the first Board Certified Cognitive Specialist in the state of Louisiana. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Psychology.
Donesa loves to skydive and fly. She is a published author of over 20 books and loves to read. She also enjoys learning new languages and exploring other countries. She is married and has 2 adult sons and is active in her local church.
Her favorite part of her job is “seeing dynamic changes in all of the lives of those we work with as well as the terrific ripples that positively affect their families.”
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Joan Emerson
Assistant Director
Board Certified Cognitive Coach
Joan is the first person to greet you when you come to the office during the day! She is from Endicott, New York and has a background in early childhood education with a Montessori certification. She is married with 10 grown children and moved to Shreveport in 2010. Joan loves camping, hiking, gardening, and reading.
Her youngest son completed a LearningRx program which completely changed their lives. This success led her to becoming a brain trainer, and she has been with LearningRx Shreveport Bossier for 13 years.
Joan’s favorite part of the job is “seeing the positive life changes in young people to senior citizens as they gain confidence and strengthen skills enabling them to reach goals and improve their lives.”
Carla Maynard
Director of Training
Board Certified Cognitive Specialist
Carla has been with LearningRx Shreveport Bossier since 2016. She was acquainted with our program after her son graduated in 2014, and she was so impressed with his incredible gains that she decided to join our staff two years later. She is a licensed civil engineer and specializes in helping our students with any type of math deficiency.
Her desire for each student is to not help them to LOVE math, but to help them NOT HATE it. Her students graduate with a confidence that they never believed they would ever experience, especially when it comes to arithmetic.
Joanna Mangum
Director of Marketing
Joanna has been in the educational field for over a decade. She has 19 years of experience teaching secondary science and 16 years of experience coaching high school and college softball teams. She was introduced to LearningRx Shreveport Bossier when her son was enrolled in our program in 2014 – 2015 and made wonderful strides.
Joanna is married with four sons and loves vacationing with her family at their condo in Orange Beach, Alabama. She loves sports, especially watching her boys play football and baseball.
Her favorite part of the job is “being out in the community sharing how LearningRx can help anyone!”
Abigail Boykin
Board Certified
Cognitive Specialist
Abigail is a Shreveport native who has worked at LearningRx Shreveport Bossier for two years. She has a B.A.+ in history and is currently pursuing a Master of Language Arts degree. She loves to garden and read.
Her favorite part of her job is “seeing people gain confidence!”
Michelean Cook
Board Certified
Cognitive Specialist
Michelean has been with LearningRx Shreveport for 4 years. She is a retired special education teacher and compliance specialist for Caddo Parish. In her free time, Michelean enjoys many hobbies including traveling, fishing, spending time with her family, baking, antiquing, reading, and writing.
“I relish every time I see that spark light up when a client (no matter the age 5 – 95 years old) obtains or surpasses a specific skill in their training. That moment when all the pieces fit together is remarkable! Confidence, self-esteem, understanding, and the knowledge that anything is possible are all identified gains for the client.”
Jacob Slaughter
Board Certified
Cognitive Specialist
Jacob has a B.S. in psychology from Northwestern State University in Louisiana. He has experience in communication and customer service as well as being a local business owner.
Jacob grew up in a large family in Louisiana and has a large fur family of his own with has many different pets. He has a silver medal on the national level in the Agriscience Fair and has also competed nationally in Floriculture competitions. He loves baking and gardening.
His favorite part of the job is “developing relationships with the clients and seeing the growth in cognitive skills and confidence!”
Mary Roberts
Board Certified
Cognitive Coach
Mary has been with LearningRx Shreveport Bossier since 2017. She is a native of that area in Louisiana and has spent over 40 years working with small children of all developmental stages.
She specializes in pre-kindergarten students who are having trouble learning the basics of numbers and letters, which are essential to their future math and reading progress.
She enjoys meeting new people and watching her students grow in confidence with each session. Parents appreciate her innovative ideas on how to motivate and inspire their young children to reach for the stars, not only in school, but at home as well.
Anna Daniel
Cognitive Trainer
Anna Daniel is the newest addition to the Shreveport LearningRx family. She is a native of Shreveport and a graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a minor in Biology. Anna loves plants both indoor and outdoor gardening. She has two dogs and enjoys hiking. When inside, Anna likes to read and cook new recipes.
“My favorite part of working at LearningRx is making a difference in the kids’ lives and watching them grow in their education.”
Jeanne Doggett
Board Certified
Cognitive Specialist
Jeanne has been with LearningRx Shreveport Bossier for 10 years and is a retired English, reading, and physical education middle school teacher of 31 years. During her career, she also coached girls’ basketball, softball, and cheerleading. She sponsored Bible Club, FCA, Peer Helpers, and Youth Empowerment. Jeanne is currently a full-time student in Aleph School of Ministry at Christian Center Shreveport. She also serves in the nursery and Kids’ Church and trains students of all ages in the afternoons and evenings at LearningRx.
Jeanne has 2 daughters, 1 son, 4 grandsons, and 2 granddaughters in heaven. She loves to read, play the piano, do jigsaw puzzles, swim, and spend time with her grandsons, children, and her friends. She loves to travel especially to Israel.
Her favorite part of her job is “seeing the difference our program makes in the lives of our students at school, home, and in life.” She says, “I love LearningRx!”
Lyle Young
Board Certified
Cognitive Specialist
Lyle has a B.A. in English from the University of New Orleans and is our go-to-guy for our Brain Lab. He is also a Special Education History and English teacher at a local private school. When he’s not working, Lyle enjoys books! He likes to read as well as peruse bookstores and a good book sale. His other hobbies include listening to music, mainly classic rock with some modern; taking long walks; discussing politics; and making people laugh.
His favorite part of his job is making people of all ages in Brain Lab smile.
Amy Laule
Board Certified
Cognitive Coach
Amy has been a trainer with LearningRx Shreveport Bossier for 7 years. She grew up in a large family in rural Mississippi and assisted in homeschooling her younger siblings. Amy also home schooled her own children through graduation. As a young adult, she began working with special needs individuals and continues to do so as a special education teacher at a local private school. She enjoys running and has completed several half marathons.
Her favorite part of her job is “the positive atmosphere and genuine care shown to the clients and fellow co-workers.”
Katelyn Young
Social Media Coordinator
Board Certified Cognitive Specialist
Katelyn has a B.S. in psychology and has a decade of experience teaching Special Education. She has traveled to 6 different countries on missionary trips, visiting 4 of the 7 continents! Katelyn has learned to speak a little Mandarin, do Indian dancing, and eaten real Belgian waffles from Belgium!
Her favorite part of her job is “seeing brains and lives being changed while helping people see the impossible become possible!”
Phil Marion
Cognitive Trainer
Phil has a B.S. from Mississippi State University majoring in Management Information Systems and is a former IT analyst. He also worked with children in the Volunteers of America Lighthouse program as both a tutor and program assistant. He was once a volunteer youth director at a small church in Laurel, Mississippi.
Phil’s favorite part of his job is “seeing the improvement in memory retention in students as sessions progress.”
