Why this is important to me & our adult students.

Why?

“Teaching literacy.  Giving hope. Changing lives.”

These three short phrases have a special meaning for me.  I graduated from high school in 1968.  Actually, I was given a diploma; I sure didn’t earn it.  I say that because when I graduated, I couldn’t read.  Well, that’s not exactly accurate.  I could read a little, but my reading comprehension was poor.  After four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, a new wife and two babies, I decided that I needed a college education.  But I still couldn’t read at the level required to succeed in college.  Living in Wisconsin in 1974, I decided to attend a reading class at Green Bay Junior College.  At that time and unknown to me, those three short sentences came alive.  The young lady teaching the reading classes took interest in my college plan and my need to read and she taught me literacy.  In the process of teaching literacy, she gave hope.  Hope that, in fact, I could learn to read and succeed in college, a hope that, frankly, I lacked within myself.

After a few months of literacy training, my new tutor turned me loose with a “How to Survive in College” self-taught series.  In that moment she set me on a path of changed lives for me, my wife, my children, my career and innumerable people I have had the honor and pleasure to mentor.

One person.  One person who looked at me and saw a young man of value and worth and potential.  One person who set another person on the path of literacy, hope and a changed life.  I wish today that I could find this lady and thank her for what she did for me and those people important to me.

So, why?  Why is Literacy Volunteers at Centenary College important to me?  Because we Teach Literacy.  Because we Give Hope.  Because we Change Lives.  All of this because one lady back in 1974 saw something in me that I didn’t.  And, she acted.

Let me encourage you to act, too.  Please consider a financial contribution to Literacy Volunteers so we can continue to serve our adult learners.  By doing so, you can help "Teach Literacy. You can Give Hope. You can Change Lives."  Take my word for it, it works.

Patrick Quick

Executive Director