Our Voices
These are success stories and comments from Project Read learners and tutors.
November PABLO
Pablo has been a participant in Project Read for over a year. At the time he registered with our program, Pablo was employed at an auto auction house in South San Francisco. His goals in coming to Project Read were to improve his reading and writing skills for his own self-fulfillment and to enable him to seek another job. Pablo is very sociable and he would like to work in a social service position. Pablo also wants to go to college. For the past year, Pablo and his tutor, Marie, have consistently met and worked on his basic reading and vocabulary development. The results are that Pablo's reading level has jumped and his spelling has also greatly improved. Pablo's self-esteem and confidence have skyrocketed. He is signing up for classes at Skyline College in math and reading for January 2009. He is also actively looking for a better job. "The tutoring has helped me to search and understand want ads on Craigslist. I am now able to fill out job applications on my own. The difference for me has been one-on-one instruction instead of being in a big classroom." Pablo definitely wants to continue with his tutor even after he attends community college classes. There are so many more possibilities for him now that his literacy skills have improved and given him the confidence to succeed. Congratulations to Pablo for his impressive achievements and pursuing his life goals! Ancora Imparo One of my favorite quotes is actually two Italian words - "Ancora Imparo." In English, these two words mean "I am still learning." This was Michelangelo's response when he was asked why he was still painting and creating works of art when he was in his 80's. You could say that AmeriCorps has brought out the artist within me. With every activity or event, I am still learning. Working with Project Read to promote literacy is my canvas. Literacy can be described as a palette of words that can bring color to someone's life. Helping adults achieve their literacy goals enhances and enriches their daily life so that they no longer see things in just black and white or shades of gray. Reading presents them with a rainbow of choices and opportunities that can brighten their future. Promoting literacy is like giving someone a paintbrush to express themselves artistically, so hand me a book and let me be AmeriCorp's and Project Read's Michelangelo!
LEARNER OF THE MONTH
Mary O’Nyon
AmeriCorps Member 2007-2008
Pat FitzPatrick
Volunteer Tutor since 1991
Project Read has enriched my life by allowing me to meet a wonderful and caring group of people.
Learners, tutors, staff, and volunteers all share the goal of advancing literacy in our community. Each person brings his or her own talent to the program. We all learn from and help each other on our individual paths of life.