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Newsletter |
Who Studies At ALP? -- Learner ProfilesDebbieDebbie, 38, feels good about her life. With her own daycare, a loving husband, and three active children, Debbie has a lot to be proud of. You would never guess from talking with Debbie that she used to feel ashamed to go to her children’s school. She was afraid students might ask her questions that she couldn’t answer – questions that would reveal her problems in reading, writing, and spelling.As a child, Debbie’s family moved around a lot. She attended a string of schools and was placed in special education classes after being held back in second grade. By the time she was in high school, Debbie found that despite working hard on homework, she still received poor grades. She tried hard to focus on school, but her family life was growing more chaotic. Debbie did earn a high school diploma, and she credits this to a program that gave her academic class credit for working a job and to her ability to get along well with classmates and to asking for help when she needed it. Debbie describes herself as someone who “fell between the cracks’: She could get along with anyone and could hold down a job responsibly, but did not have the skills to express herself clearly in writing nor could she read beyond a certain level. When people discovered her weaknesses, they belittled her. Debbie had found many ways to cope before deciding to come to the Anchorage Literacy Project. She avoided taking notes at work, instead relying on her good memory and oral skills to explain a message. She learned to vote and take tests, like the driver’s exam and CPR certification, orally. At home, she substituted words she could not read with made-up ones while reading books to children. But Debbie knew that her coping skills could only go so far. Indeed, it was her children she had in mind when responded to ALP’s television ad ten years ago. She wanted to be a role model for children, and didn’t want to them to become disappointed in her. After her initial contact with ALP she was paired with a tutor, but things just didn’t seem to “click.” Nine years later, she contacted ALP again and signed up to take a class in the Multi-Sensory Program - a program based on a teaching method designed for students with dyslexia. This time, things began to come together for her. Attending classes and meeting other intelligent but struggling students has been a great motivator for Debbie. She has taken two reading classes, a spelling class, and is now enrolled in the most advanced spelling class. Debbie says that since coming to ALP, she’s gained the courage and confidence to take tests without anxiety and to go into her children’s schools without fear of appearing stupid. Although some class lessons take longer to learn than others, she has become more patient with herself, trading in frustration for the courage to hang in there until a concept becomes clear. Debbie is excited about learning and being a role model for her children. After being selected to represent ALP at the Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education (VALUE)’s Adult Learner Leadership Institute in July of 2001, Debbie is finding herself becoming a role model for adults. She will soon begin addressing local business and civic organizations as a spokesperson for ALP and has already taken part in fund raising activities. Debbie’s goals are to continue taking classes, become more involved with her children’s school, and to enter college. She wants to continue working in ways which will help other people, perhaps ultimately working in counseling or with a literacy program. “I can see my future expanding in leaps and bounds,” she says. Debbie is participating in the Multi-Sensory Program at ALP. This is a program based on teaching methods designed primarily for students with dyslexia.
Olga Olga was born in 1972 in Guatemala. She grew up in the small village of San Lucas in the mountainous region of El Quiche. Her one-room home had a dirt floor and no running water or electricity. As a child, Olga helped with the planting and cultivation of maize, pumpkins, beans and chayotes in the plot of land her family shared with other families. She also tended the chickens and cows. When she was seven, her father abandoned the family and Olga had to work harder than ever. She and her mother picked cardamom at a plantation for ten months of the year. They had to rise at 4 a.m. and walk two hours to the plantation. Olga would kneel at work for hours until she had picked the required 70 lbs. of cardamom. Snakes and mosquitoes were always a problem. After work, she and her mother would walk home. Olga worked for six years at the plantation, but had to stop at age 14 when it became too dangerous because of the civil war. The government forces made San Lucas their headquarters and the soldiers encamped in a soccer field next to her house. The army presence made it very dangerous for the villagers. Olga says, “I can never forget the terror I felt as a child hiding from the guerrillas and burrowing in the earth beneath my bed to escape the bullets that often penetrated our home.” Her eleven-year-old sister was abducted by a soldier. A young cousin was kidnapped and murdered. Ten nearby villages were burned. Olga’s mother desperately wanted to get her children away from the village, and in 1988, she was able to take Olga and leave Guatemala. They lived in Los Angeles until they could pay back the men who helped them escape, and then they moved to Oregon. Mother and daughter worked and saved, and in 1992 they were able to bring all but one family member to the United States. Olga met her husband in Beaverton. In 1999, they moved to Anchorage with their two young daughters. Olga is very thankful that her children live in a place that is safe and that they will have the opportunity to get a good education and attend a university. She misses her mother in Oregon very much. Olga studies English with the Impact Family Literacy Program at ALP.
Trinh Trinh is from Vietnam and has been a student at ALP for more than a year. She is continuing to improve her English skills and is working part-time for ALP's Family Literacy Program as a pre-school aide. She has been especially interested in learning computer skills and can often be found practicing her skills in ALP's computer literacy lab. Says Trinh, "In the lab I have used the English programs, increased my typing skills and learned more about computer programs. I can now type my class homework and search the Internet. The lab has helped me learn."
Digna Digna began her studies with IMPACT Family Literacy Program in November 2002. She and her four-year-old daughter attend English classes four days a week, not a small feat for a mother who works nights as a janitor. In the past, Digna has improved her English skills, obtained citizenship, and she and her husband bought a new house. She hopes to improve her English enough to be able to obtain a university education. |
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