Sometimes people hide the lack of a basic skill such as the ability to read. For one older student, her low reading level as a child led adults to believe that she lacked skills in other areas as well. Because she was labeled “dumb” in school, she began to believe she wasn’t smart in other areas, and this led to added psychologically debilitating experiences.

At the age of fifty and with the support of her husband, she decided to seek her GED. Realizing that she needed help with reading, she sought out Project READ at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey and began working with a tutor. Her astounding reading improvement can be seen in each session and her success has improved self-esteem. At first afraid to ask a question or express a doubt, she now often challenges ideas or opinions that, for the first time, she reads in newspapers or magazines, and can knowledgeably offer information she has researched herself.