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Past Profiles
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Donell McCoy
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As a child, Donell McCoy followed his father from military
base to military base, moving every two years before the family
settled in Toledo, Ohio...
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Del Kennedy
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Del Kennedy's elementary school
report cards showed clearly that something was wrong,
but it wasn't until well after Kennedy's graduation
that an eye doctor solved part of the mystery...
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Rosetta Harper
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She graduated from high school on the
honor roll. She even took extra summer classes all through high school...
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Elroy
Chinn: Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student
Excellence 2006 |
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The only school in Elroy Chinn’s hometown of El Campo, Texas, was “whites only,” so instead of learning to read, Chinn and his siblings spent their childhoods...
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Brent Lindsay: Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence 2005
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For Mother's Day 2005, Betty Lindsay received a gift she'll never forget. Her 28-year-old son, Brent, walked into the Jo-Ann Fabrics store in Malone, N.Y. where Betty works as a manager, and presented her with a book he had written...
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Peter Pauole: Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence 2004
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Before Peter Pauole learned how to read, laughter didn't come easily to him. He was often angry, ashamed, and self-destructive...
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Brian Jeffries: Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence 2003
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Diagnosed in adolescence with dyslexia, Brian Jeffries attended special schools and sought help for his reading. At 21, he still read at a second-grade level...
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David Clemons
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The year was 1997, and David Clemons was down and out. Injuries from a car accident left him unable to earn a living...
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Rudy Diaz
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Rodolfo "Rudy" Diaz never liked to talk to educated people. The native of an El Paso, Texas barrio began working at age 13 and left school in the ninth grade without having learned to read...
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Johnny Gilchrist
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Johnny Gilchrist held a steady job for 28 years, raised a family on Long Island, N.Y., and sent one child to college–even though he was barely able to read...
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Donna Helser
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As a mom, Donna Helser knows that young children imitate their parents. So when Helser finally passed the GED, her deepest satisfaction came less from earning that piece of paper than from knowing...
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Vicki Jackson
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When the Indiana factory where Vicki Jackson worked closed its doors, her co-workers grieved the loss of their jobs to Mexico...
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Sandra Johnson
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Sandra Johnson normally coached a boys' basketball team for a Washington, D.C. youth league, but one evening, Coach Johnson traded passing and shooting tips for lessons in pronouncing digraphs like th and sh...
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Earl Mills
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"Fear gripped my heart," Mills recalls. "I stumbled through it, with my wife sitting beside me, but I was so embarrassed. That was a turning point..."
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Norma Shaw
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Norma Shaw always managed to get by with her reading and writing skills—until the day she had trouble tutoring a fourth-grade student...
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Lavon Williams
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When Lavon Williams graduated from high school, he realized that his inability to read well was like an anchor around his neck, slowly dragging him down. Lavon says he was “pushed” through school, didn’t receive much attention, and left school with little interest in learning...
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Student Advisory Council Members
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Ivan Arias
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When Ivan Arias was a schoolboy in his native Ecuador, English class was not his favorite subject. Even after enduring six full years of instruction, Ivan came away feeling he had learned nothing of what his teachers had been trying to teach him...
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Darlene Garcia
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Darlene Garcia may be the first student advocate hired to work with California’s library literacy programs, but she didn’t step foot in a library until she was 29...
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Eartha Johnson
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Eartha Johnson’s personal motto is “I may be down, but I’m not out.” Eartha never learned to read; she didn’t receive the attention she needed in school, and she spent much of her time growing up taking care of her siblings...
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Donna Jones
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For Donna Jones, meeting her literacy tutor for the first time felt like going out on a blind date. It was shortly after New Year's Day in 1995, and Donna had recently signed up for free tutoring...
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Harold Lockwood
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It took a personal health crisis to convince Harold Lockwood he should go back to school...
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Emma Torrez
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Watching TV has been blamed by many for contributing to illiteracy, but in Emma Torrez's case, the tube deserves credit for encouraging at least one person to go back to school...
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Shellie Walters
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Shellie Walters says it was her ability to “work the system” that made it possible for her to graduate high school with a B average even though she could barely read or write...
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