Literacy Success Stories

 

St.Clair County Truck Driver Steers in a New Direction

 

You just don’t know until you’ve been there; you just don’t know how hard it is. Some people, you can’t let them know you can’t read because they’ll just kick you down, you know?

Sixty-year-old Louie Singleton has sharp eyes and a broad, warm smile.  “You just don’t know until you’ve been there; you just don’t know how hard it is.  Some people, you can’t let them know you can’t read because they’ll just kick you down, you know?”

 

Singleton speaks from experience. When he was a child, he dropped out of school to support his family after his father became too sick to work. After starting his own family, Singleton relied on his oldest boy to help his other three sons with their schoolwork.

 

A few years later, and still unable to read, Singleton became president of his industry’s local union and served for eleven years. Since he couldn’t read, he memorized the union’s book of bylaws, just as he’s memorized his trucking routes.

 

But a desire to read dogged Singleton throughout the years. After getting laid off, his wife encouraged him to contact The Literacy Council, through which he met a tutor who taught him to use phonics. The first word he ever read was on a road sign he’d seen many times before – Sylacauga. Singleton is optimistic as he drives off toward a brighter future.

 

Never Too Late

 

Deanette Adelmann felt something missing in her life since she dropped out of high school more than two decades ago. "You just don't feel complete without it," she says.

 

She left high school in the tenth grade after getting involved with the wrong crowd.  At 27, she had her first child and worked a series of odd jobs to help support her family.  When she eventually became a stay-at-home mom, she felt no special sense of urgency with regard to acquiring her diploma.   
Adelmann says she decided to set a good example and invest in herself and her family by obtaining her General Educational Diploma (GED).  In April of 2009, Adelmann enrolled in GED classes at Jeff State in Pell City. 

 

Because Adelmann passed all of her practice tests in class, she was eligible for The Literacy Council’s Jackie Wuska Hurt GED Scholarship.  The scholarships The Literacy Council offers are vital to many students who struggle to raise the $50.00 registration fee.   After two months of hard work Adelmann was ready to take the GED and passed all subjects the first time.

 

"It's really incredible," Adelmann says about realizing her dream and receiving her GED diploma at Jeff State in Pell City.  "I wanted to prove to everybody, and to myself, that I could accomplish a lot.  I wanted to set an example for my children,” Adelmann says.  “I felt great when I was accepted into the program.  There was a sense of accomplishment.”

 

"You're going to be an inspiration to other people now because you are so remarkable,” said her tutor.  In the fall, Deanette will start college courses with a goal of becoming a nurse. "With today's economy, you need to prepare for the future.  I'm 42 and starting college," she says, smiling at the thought.

 

View more information about The Literacy Council Jackie Wuska Hurt GED Scholarship or contact The Literacy Council at 205-326-1925 or 1-800-448-7323.

 

Volunteer Tutor Compelled to Give Back

I tutor because it's helping to do something to make people's lives better here. I can't imagine going through life without basic skills and without being able to better your everyday existence

Elizabeth Geller is a volunteer tutor with the The Literacy Council’s library-based adult reading program Ready to Read. She has worked with the same learner at the Birmingham Public Library’s central downtown location since early fall of 2008. She and her learner, Ronald, meet one and a half hours per week and are currently working in the Level 2 book in the Laubach reading curriculum, which has four skill levels.

 

A Birmingham native, Ms. Geller did her undergraduate work at Auburn and completed her law degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. As a student, she thought about tutoring struggling adult readers for a while but never had much extra time. Finally, after reading news articles on low literacy levels in Alabama and finding more time after law school, Ms. Geller visited The Literacy Council’s web site and connected with a tutor training workshop.

 

"I tutor because it's helping to do something to make people's lives better here. I can't imagine going through life without basic skills and without being able to better your everyday existence," she says.

 

Ms. Geller, who is married and works as a compliance officer at a bank, manages to find time weekly for Ronald—although she doesn’t think doing so is a big deal.

 

We think it is. We bet Ronald thinks so, too.