Waukesha+County+Literacy+Counsel

Description: I never realized nor had I ever considered there are so many people who cannot read, until my first year working at AOL. There were several students who could not read, or if they could read, read at a very low level. It was one of those moments that profoundly affected me - in the 21st century, how can we have students who cannot read?

Analysis: This became a motivating influence on me to donate my time to help another person acqurie the skills and ability to read. I was inspired by the Literacy Counsel and Starbucks "90 tutors in 90 Days" campaign. I committed myself to becoming a tutor. I went through a training course sponsored by the Literacy Councel of Greater Waukesha, becoming a certified tutor. It took several matches but eventually I was matched with an adult woman who had spent her high school and adult life struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues. She was several credits shy of earning her high school diploma.

Reflection: Our goal was to bring this woman's reading skills up to grade level, enabling her to enroll in courses at WCTC to finish the credits necessary to earn her high school diploma. It was a rich and rewarding experience for me to tutor this woman. We worked together for about 8 weeks. She already had some solid reading skills, but lacked the confidence in her reading ability. Through practice of reading skills and encouragement, she was able to enroll in WCTC. I lost contact with her so I don't know if she earned her high school diploma. Although this was my only tutoring experience due to the changes in my schedule, I do hope to continue in helping others learn to read in the future.

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