Success Stories

The day she met Darius*, Reading Assist Fellow Lizzy knew her work was cut out for her. Darius was not excited to leave his classroom to spend 45 minutes reading one-on-one with her. And she couldn’t blame him. His struggles were different from the struggles of most students she worked with. Darius did not know the alphabet or how to read any simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words.

After doing an initial assessment, Lizzy was worried that even the most basic level of the curriculum might be too hard for him. But Darius persevered. He learned the full alphabet and associated letter sounds, and was soon able to read decodable readers with ease.

Besides his hard work bringing him success, Lizzy also considers her relationship with Darius a success. For a while, neither one of them looked forward to their daily reading time together. It was hard work for both of them. But the more time they spent together, the more they learned about each other. Lizzy knew his favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was Raphael, and Darius regularly asked Lizzy about her dog, Lola. Not only did Lizzy teach Darius learn to read in their year together, Darius taught Lizzy how to be a patient and loving teacher.

*Name changed for privacy