Sandra Johnson
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. Johnson had just learned to read and was so grateful she brought the magnetic board and letter tiles she and her tutor had been using to a nearby recreation center and began sharing her gift.
"I didn't want them to go through what I'm going through now," recalls Johnson, now 43 and a housekeeper for a hospital. "When you're older, it's 10 times harder to learn what you didn't learn when you were younger."
Johnson was 13 when she realized she didn't read as well as her classmates. In the ninth grade, she was placed in a technical school where she attended classes for half the day and worked the rest. Although she graduated from the technical school, Johnson did not graduate from high school.
Social service agencies helped Johnson find work, but she knew she still couldn't read. Embarrassed, she successfully hid her problem from her family, friends, co-workers, and everyone else.
Johnson wanted to learn to read more than anything, but didn't know how to find help without disclosing her secret. The day she saw a TV commercial about an adult reading program, she didn't have a pencil handy to jot down the number, so she watched the same station every day for a week until the ad re-aired. She was so afraid of telling anyone about her problem, however, that it took two years before she gathered the nerve to dial the number.
Johnson was tested at Washington Literacy Council (WLC) and placed with a tutor. She thought the rest would be easy. But after meeting for three weeks, her tutor stopped coming, leaving Johnson to wonder what she had done wrong. It was a dark time for Johnson, who felt as though a door had closed. She wouldn't try to reopen it for two more years.
When she called WLC the second time, Johnson was matched with tutor Linda Farrell. She and Johnson hit it off right away, but Farrell struggled to teach her student to read, trying one method after the other, none of them successful.
As she hunted for new methods, Farrell worked on improving Johnson's cultural literacy through trips to the theater and historical places throughout the city. While Johnson loved the outings, she really wanted to learn to read. But she kept quiet and continued to attend tutoring sessions without voicing her disappointment.
Farrell finally found a method that effectively taught Johnson how to match letters and sounds to read one-syllable words with short vowels, and Johnson's interest level spiked. The women worked together another four years until Johnson was ready to begin studying for the GED.
"Sandra is one of our great success stories," says Elisabeth Liptak, WLC's executive director. "Across the country, many people drop out of adult basic education programs, but she did not. That says something about her."
This learner-turned-teacher has impressed many since she began studying at WLC more than a decade ago. They cite her progress, her tenacity, and her desire to serve others.
"She's a hard worker," says David Clemons, WLC student coordinator and an adult learner himself, "but she's real easygoing."
"Sandra's a quiet leader," Farrell says. "She's got a ton of integrity and perseverance. She's very highly regarded, and she gets phone calls from other students who are discouraged or who question their abilities."
Johnson is quick to return the compliment. "Everything that I have accomplished, I owe to Linda," she says.
Attending school is much different for Johnson now that she's an adult. "This time I'm not just sitting there," she says. "I'm asking questions, becoming part of the learning process. Before, I didn't want the teacher to call on me. Now I do. I'm getting what I didn't get when I was growing up."
She's also getting some well-deserved recognition. When she was invited to a T-ball game on the south lawn of the White House in 2001, Johnson received a warm welcome from First Lady Laura Bush, who also congratulated her on learning to read as an adult. She also met Barbara Bush, who, Johnson says, gave her the biggest hug of her life.
"It was fantastic," Johnson told a Washington Times reporter. "The First Lady was so proud of me and told me to keep doing what I do."
That dose of VIP encouragement came in handy as Johnson learned she didn't pass the GED on her first try. She didn't pass it on her second or third tries, either, although she came closer each time.
"I want that piece of paper," she says, "just to say that I can do it."
After she earns her GED, Johnson hopes to begin work for the D.C. Department of Recreation as a youth counselor working with children with disabilities. Johnson also would like to take a college course "just to see what it's like."
Johnson often speaks to tutors and adult learners in the D.C. area about her experience as an adult who learned to read. This year, she and Clemons spoke to literacy organizations in New Orleans.
For other adults who may be thinking of returning to school, Coach Johnson has these words of advice: "Keep on fighting, because you're not the only one out there. Never give up. If it isn't worth fighting for, it isn't worth having."
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