Left to right: April Cleckner, Charlene Renaud, and Bonnie Wright
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Charlene expresses thanks and appreciation to tutor Bonnie Wright and her good friends and biggest supporters Bea Colesmith and April Cleckner who told her about the Literacy Council.
“Charlene has been my student for three years. She couldn’t read when we first started but was eager to learn and a hard worker. Charlene’s goal was to read her Bible in her Bible study group and she was quite motivated to succeed.
Charlene began by learning the letters of the alphabet and came to understand how the sounds of the letters combined to make words. Charlene made steady progress and her self-confidence grew. We tried to make learning relevant and had some happy victories along the way. One terrific example is the first time she was able to read a birthday card from her son!
Charlene can now read a menu in a restaurant and order what she wants. She can read street and building signs when she is out and understand the writing on items in a store when she is shopping. She reads the notices and signs posted by management in her building, and she can write her own checks.
Things most people would take for granted have been hard-won for Charlene. She is deservedly proud of meeting the challenges of the last three years and all the hard work it took to get where she is today. She is a wonderful example to others that they also can do what was thought impossible.”
– Tutor Bonnie Wright