Literacy Program Profile : Seymour

Seymour, Texas is a relaxed place at 5:00pm as Thursday evening approaches.  People drive through the city like they are already home.  A Seymour Panthers flag marks the entrance to the Baylor County Free Library, and inside two students, Flora and Gloria Jaimes, are studying American English with their tutors, Evelyn Leichliter and the library's director, Lita Slaggle.

Flora’s employer donates books to the library on a regular basis. On one such visit, two years ago, he noticed a new sign advertising reading classes. When he got to the office, he suggested to Flora that she take advantage of them.

Gloria began taking the lessons 6 months later when her employer heard about the program on the local radio station, KSEY, and suggested it. When she arrived for her first class, she was surprised to find Flora, her sister-in-law, there as well.

Flores and Gloria are like many Americans.  Here in Texas, the high school drop out rate floats around 30%.  “Since 1986, Texas high schools have lost 3 million students. This is the equivalent of losing Houston and Austin over the course of two and half decades. And, at the current pace, we could be looking at losing as many as 3.5 million more students – or the entire populations of San Antonio , Dallas , El Paso and Lubbock over the next three decades,” says Dr. María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, president of IDRA.  The reasons for this are legion and range from economic to social to personal.  Combined, they make for a lot of people with incomplete reading skills.  Yet, this is an embarrassing thing for anyone to admit.  So, we have millions of people hiding their difficulties from each other and even their own families.

By studying together, Gloria and Flora have grown closer to each other and more like family.  Flora says her job has become easier since she started taking the classes.  She also commented that, as she gets better, she has more chances to practice and to help others practice as well.  Gloria says her improved reading skills also make it easier to talk with people.  She is also better supporting her children at school because she can understand the documents the school sends her and makes sure her children meet their school's expectations.  They have both been inspired by their reading lessons to pursue their GED certificates as well.

The friendships developed have been an important part of the learning experience.  Flora and Gloria have not only grown closer through studying together; they have also developed friendships with their tutors.  Gloria's tutor is Lita Slaggle, the library director.  Flora’s tutor is Evelyn Leichliter.  One of Evelyn's friends was a Laubach Way to English tutor in the late 1980s, and she thought it sounded interesting.  In 2008, she heard about Lita's library program and, remembering her friend's experience, signed up to become a tutor.  Lita and Evelyn both say they enjoy the friendships developed and the one-on-one interaction.

The conversations that naturally follow from these friendships become focal points for further development.  These friendships also motivate the students and tutors alike to be persistent with the lessons.  Because the learning is a social experience, the program strengthens the community while promoting lifelong learning and the sharing of knowledge.

When asked about the program, Lita replied, “NTRLS was working up a literacy grant and needed some pilot libraries to participate. I thought about it and felt it could really turn into an asset for our community. Even if we didn’t have students participating, we could supply tutors that could help anyone who came into the library to seek assistance with reading or other literacy problems. I have since found out that it can be very rewarding, as I’m sure you could tell after meeting Gloria and Flora and hearing their amazing stories.”

When advertising the classes, Lita only refers to her program as reading classes, never as literacy classes.  Illiteracy has strong negative connotations that drive away potential students.  On the other hand, all people, even college students, look for ways to improve their reading and writing skills.

In the end, reading is not easy to learn or improve, but when literacy efforts promote feelings of community, the students and tutors alike are inspired to stay with it and make that extra effort.