EDITOR'S NOTE: The Golden Spread Literacy Fund drive is under way. The Amarillo Area Adult Literacy Council, the Texas Panhandle Library System and the Amarillo Globe-News founded the Literacy Fund to help promote the spread of literacy.
Doris Ward did not attend school as a child because she had a cyst on her tailbone and couldn't walk or sit in hard chairs. When she was 13 years old, the cyst abscessed. After the surgery, she was in a wheelchair.
NAME: Geraldine Elliston
OCCUPATION: Retired veterinarian
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A TUTOR? One year
HOW MANY STUDENTS HAVE YOU TAUGHT? Three
WHY DID YOU BECOME A TUTOR? I can't remember a time when I couldn't read, and I can't imagine not knowing how to read.
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF BEING A TUTOR? Finding ways to present the material so that it makes sense.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST PART OF BEING A TUTOR? I've learned so much. I have profound respect for all the students I've worked with. They're all great people to work with.
WHAT HAVE YOU GAINED FROM YOUR EXPERIENCES AS A TUTOR? I've learned a lot about teaching reading, through the course at the Literacy House and through independent study.
"No school would take me; they didn't have special ed," Ward said. "Hereford schools said they wouldn't take handicapped kids."
When Ward was 55, one of her neighbors found out about her illiteracy and told her, as a Valentine's Day gift, about the Amarillo Area Adult Literacy Council and offered to drive her there.
"She didn't know how to approach me about it," Ward said.
Since then, Ward has made a lot of progress.
"We're both happy with her progress," tutor Geraldine Elliston said. "There were very few words she could read when she came, and now she has a reading vocabulary of about 500 words. This is in just four months, so we've really come along fast."
Elliston has had to make some teaching style adjustments for this job, however.
"I'm a phonetic reader, and Doris is a sight reader," Elliston said. "We approach words differently, so we play games to make it make sense to both of us."
"She's good," Ward said.
Ward and Elliston are happy with their teacher-student relationship.
"I think we make a really good team," Ward said. "She's got so much patience."
"I think this was fortunate," Elliston said. "A younger person wouldn't have understood about bifocals. When a whole line of words jumps around, we both know what's going on."
Ward's main reason for learning to read is so she can read to her nieces, nephews and the Sunday school nursery class.
"Doris' nieces and nephews are excited about this because they're starting school, and now they can write back and forth," Elliston said. "The kids are impressed, and it makes them want to work harder with their schoolwork."
Application requests or contributions can be sent to Golden Spread Literacy Fund, P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166.
To become a tutor or to enroll at the Literacy Council, call 373-9009 or go to the Literacy House at 2219 S. Van Buren St.
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