Anne Arundel County Literacy Council

Aleem Rao, fluent in 3 languages, emigrated to this country in 1990. Recently he accomplished an impressive goal, passing all the clearances necessary to hold a high-security position within the federal government.

But one last hurdle kept Aleem from starting his new job. The bureaucratic red tape had snarled his ability to retrieve his educational records from his home country. His prospective new boss agreed, however, that if Aleem secured a GED, he would satisfy all the prerequisites for the job.

Aleem studied on his own and quickly passed three out of four sections of the GED. However, when the math portion of the test proved more challenging, Aleem was referred to the AACLC, where he was teamed with tutor Susann Felton. Susan reports that her new pupil was not only “very intelligent and highly motivated; he was an absolute delight to work with.” After a brief review of algebra and geometry, Aleem and Susan shifted their focus to test-taking skills and gaining calculator expertise. Aleem went on to ace the GED math test earlier this year.

Today, Aleem is a proud federal government employee, with a salary and benefits package that substantially improves his ability to care for his family, which includes three children. And he has expressed his gratitude to the Literary Council in a most meaningful way: Aleem would now like to volunteer with our organization and help others as he was helped.