Inside a classroom in the Forest View Educational Center, Marguerite Tully of Arlington Heights and her student, KiKi, from Osaka, Japan, laugh together easily and finish one another’s sentences.
KiKi and her tutor, Marguerite Tully
“We started as tutors,” Tully says, “but now we’re friends.”
KiKi quickly adds, “She’s like a sister to me.”
The two have worked together for the last four semesters in the Read to Learn program, offered by District 214 Community Education. This is the 40th year for the program and its mission remains the same: to offer one-on-one tutoring to adult learners with basic reading and writing skills.
This spring semester, there are 182 students enrolled and they have 150 tutors. Students come from 28 different countries including Japan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine and Poland, to name a few. Since the program began in 1985, some 6,300 tutors have helped more than 13,000 people.
Back in the classroom, at their desks, students and tutors review reading materials, going over words that are unfamiliar. More often than not, they lead to conversations — and laughter.
Tutor Nancy Heggen with her student, Mami
Across from Tully and KiKi are Nancy Heggen, who worked at the Palatine Library before being elected as a library trustee, works with her student, Mami, also from Japan. They turn to to Tully and KiKi with this question: “What’s the history behind the tooth fairy? Do they have tooth fairies in other countries?
Everyone laughs, but these random questions provoke discussion and improved vocabulary. For her part, Mami has a goal to learn 10 new words a week. Consequently, while reading outside of class, she jots down any unfamiliar words and she and Heggen go over them.
Jo Ann Fletcher has been with the program since 2003. She started as a tutor before becoming a site supervisor — at one of its 12 class sites — and now she has directed the program for the last nine years.
“Tutor and student are paired in the beginning and as long as they are in the program, they stay together,” Fletcher says. “The continuity helps, with the learning and in building relationships.”
Tully and KiKi are a good example. Tully worked in the Office of Tourism for the City of Chicago before working as an independent program and event manager. After retiring as executive director for the Illinois Child Care Bureau, she turned to volunteering and Read to Learn drew her involvement.
“I’m finding that reading empowers people, especially women,” Tully says. “I’ve found this program to be so helpful and for me, it’s uplifting.”
She listens as KiKi tries to describe what the program has done for her. She learned about it in her ESL class, also offered by District 214 Continuing Education.
“I was getting anxious because people were talking too fast,” KiKi says. “But this class has been amazing with my listening skills, reading and writing. I can now go to the airport and understand what the announcements are.”
Walking through the halls, Fletcher loves to hear stories like that.
“It’s those little success stories that mean so much,” she says. “We thrive on that.”
The program always needs more tutors. The next training session begins in August. For more information call 847-718-7724.
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