Peter Pauole - Winner of the Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence 2004

Before Peter Pauole learned how to read, laughter didn't come easily to him. He was often angry, ashamed, and self-destructive.

But today Peter, 55, finds himself laughing frequently. He enjoys being able to read so much that he often giggles for sheer enjoyment, even as he teaches other adults how to share in the fun.

"When I first started learning to read," Peter says, "my self-esteem was almost zero. But when I started hearing myself read, and when I started seeing what I was doing, my self-esteem just started growing. And it's still growing. Every time I read a word that I couldn't before, I start laughing. My students know this, and they know I'm not laughing at them. I'm laughing to myself."

Peter's life was no laughing matter when he sought help at the public library in Hilo, Hawaii, in the fall of 1999. Recently divorced, he could no longer depend on his wife to read the incoming mail and make sure important bills got paid on time. He soon received word from an officer at the bank that his mortgage was in arrears and foreclosure proceedings had begun. Worse yet, a friend read to him a notice in the newspaper that his home would soon be auctioned off to pay delinquent property taxes.

"It was in the newspaper, and I didn't know they were going to auction off my house," he recalls. "That's when I started looking for someplace to get help."

Even as he hastily pulled together funds to prevent the foreclosure and auction, Peter started asking questions. A young woman at the unemployment office told Peter about the Computer-Assisted Learning Center (CALC) at the Hilo Public Library. Peter still chuckles about his first visit to the building. He went outside to get his glasses before taking the placement test and set off the fire alarm because he couldn't read the sign above the emergency exit. No one inside the library thought he would come back -- but he did.

Today, Peter reads at a fourth-grade level, can use the Internet, can knowledgably discuss adult literacy issues and speaks out without fear or shame. A mentor to new students, he was honored by ProLiteracy Worldwide in October 2004 with the Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence. He's now busy speaking out at the city and state levels on behalf of public funding for adult literacy education.

At the beginning, learning was frustrating for Peter. He suffers from dyslexia, so he has trouble spelling. Longer words, for some reason, are easy for him, but a short word like bad can really give him fits. He also has trouble placing letters in order, as required when reciting letters of the alphabet.

"I got mad at my self a lot," he recalls. "Whenever I got frustrated, my tutor would say, 'Take a deep breath, talk a walk, come back, and try again.' Eventually something just clicked in my head and I started picking it up."

Anger is an emotion that illiterate and low-literate adults are only too familiar with, Peter says. Some have been hurt deeply by others calling them dumb or retarded. Others are mad at themselves for needing help. Whatever the reason, Peter thinks it's important for tutors to be aware that many adult learners carry this invisible burden.

"If you label him, like he's been labeled all his life, he's going to fight back," Peter advises, "and that you don't want. Once he starts doing that, the student is not going to learn at all. He's going to run away and hide again."

Peter also has some wise words for students who are still hiding:

"They are going to have to come out and get help," he says. "They're the ones who are going to have to sit down with a tutor and try their best to fight this problem."