I Can Read!

     I worked this past summer as a tutor in our summer intensive reading program. Students meet with a different tutor each hour for four hours a day, five days a week. One day while going over vowel sounds, my student looked up at me to me and said, “I can read now!” I said, “yes, you can! How long have you waited to say that?”

     “Since I was five!“ Knowing she had been waiting four years to be able to say she was a reader was such a humbling experience. I had seen all the hard work and determination she had been putting in with us. Her mom had shared that her daughter was even joining in with their stories at nighttime and decoding the words she had recognized. It wasn’t just what we do here at Aucocisco that changed things for her, it was her own passion and desire to be a reader that turned things around for her. It truly is a team effort. We gave her the foundation, and she took herself across the finish line. Moments like this are why I teach.