One of YWCA's 2011 Women of Achievement Substitutes at LAI....Did We Mention She is Also Our Executive Director?

Emily Ellison, Executive Director at Literacy Action

 

Yesterday morning one of our teachers, Ms. Conley, called to say that she had been involved in a car accident.  Although everyone was safe, she was waiting on the police to arrive and would be late for her class.  All our other instructors were scheduled to teach their own courses, and so I went to the Reading IV class and had the privilege of serving as a “substitute teacher” for about 40 minutes.  There were approximately 20 adult students waiting for me, ready to review their homework, which was to draft a business letter.  Often the public thinks that Literacy Action’s clients “just” need to learn to read, and the assumption is that the learning-to-read process will be a speedy one.  For some, it is.  For others (for the majority), especially those entering our programs at very low levels and who have a learning issue such as dyslexia, it’s a journey that takes tenacity, courage, smarts, and sometimes years. 

During those few minutes in that classroom yesterday, I was taken away from the day-to-day tasks of a nonprofit ED (checking bank balances; drafting fundraising proposals; working on HR issues, payroll, insurance renewals; scheduling and rescheduling meetings; trying to decipher government documents – the fun stuff) and reminded yet again WHY literacy organizations like ours must exist.  For the thousandth time I was moved by how eager our students are to learn, how desperately they want to improve their skills, how hungry they are for anything that will better prepare them to navigate 21^st Century living and help lift their families out of poverty. 

There was the father whose letter was handwritten in pencil to his children’s principal.  He was concerned that the kids were not being assigned any homework and that they weren’t learning what he thought they should learn.  Here was a man whose own writing skills were limited, who was returning to school in his 40s, and who wanted something so much better for his children.  He smiled, nodded, and jotted down a note on the lined paper every time one of his classmates provided input on his letter.    

There was the 30-something-year-old woman who wanted assistance in writing a letter to Dollar General, where she was hoping to get a job.  She was excited by the fact that Dollar General is a generous supporter of adult literacy programs, and she was hoping that adding this information to her letter might distinguish it from others and might garner attention from someone reading inquiries.

There was the 70-something-year-old grandmother, who has for decades cleaned the house and raised the children of a family in Buckhead while also raising her two great grandsons.  Her goals have mainly been to help those grandsons (one now in college) with homework and be a model for them.

When Ms. Conley finally arrived yesterday, everyone cheered and applauded.  I’m talking about LOUD whoops and hollers, expressions of genuine thankfulness that their teacher wasn’t hurt and had rejoined them.  I was glad to see her too.  But I could have stayed happily in that classroom all day.  While I know nearly all our students by sight (if not always by name), I don’t always have the opportunity to interact with them other than brief greetings in the hallway.  But yesterday I was given a little gift.  A rare opportunity to refocus, recharge, remind myself that everyone in Atlanta should be able to write a business letter or read a story to grandchildren.   It’s what we do here – help adults regain their futures.  One word at a time . . . .