The sky is pink now, as I sit down to write, glowing in rose light at the very edge of the view outside my window. I see it through the slats of my blinds and marvel at the way it tints every side of every building, the hospital and the metal generators on its roof, even the rising stadium that swells up atop a hill nearly a mile away. Somehow the gradual decline of the sun warms my brain and my fingers, helping me to release the words in my head.

With each light that flickers on, I am compelled to stare further out into this city where I have lived my entire life, to try and see into the windows and alleys that lie between the buildings stretching to the darkening horizon. If I am not at my desk when I am struck by this yearning and am unable to release it into words, I am left feeling helpless that I cannot reach into the places I see and know each detail. But I am blessed with mobility. If I choose, I can go anywhere I wish. The only thing that ties me down is responsibility. But in my town, and undoubtedly every city in the world, there are numbers of people who are denied this mobility, this freedom of movement and of choice to live one’s life the way one wishes.

Many members of my family work in education. Because of this I have been aware of the educational ramifications of our city’s social imbalance, especially along racial lines. One of the most painful of these imbalances begins in the first grade, where students are passed along without ever learning to read. My mother was a special interventionist who worked with first through fourth graders whose reading levels were low. The program allowed these students – some of whom had behavioral problems, and some who were simply shy and ignored – to receive the individual attention that they needed to learn, but were denied in crammed classrooms. Sadly, however, the program was canceled, and the children were deposited back into the situations that failed them before.

I first experienced the miracle of teaching someone to read when I was a freshman in college. Having always admired my mother for her work with children, I was thrilled at the chance to do the same thing at an underprivileged school in my area. I volunteered through an Americorps program that places student tutors with children who are reading below their grade level. I have been working at it ever since. It is amazing to watch how a child actually learns to read – to observe the gradual change from simple character recognition and guessing to the moment when the child realizes she is reading on her own. I believe this moment is what keeps me coming back to the program each semester, just hoping to see that spark and the broad, proud smile that replaces the wrinkled brow bent in concentration. And even though I leave each time feeling curious about what my student’s life is like outside of school, if her parents read with her and encourage her progress, I am soothed in the knowledge that she has begun to develop a vital tool for her life.

Though I feel a sense of pride and thankfulness for my involvement with the tutoring program, I know its shortcomings. We are given students who need extra practice and individual attention. We do not actually teach them how to read, we simply add a little grease, so to speak, to make their learning process smoother. How- ever, there are children who need real help from people who are trained to teach them, and these are the ones who are continually neglected. Perhaps they are labeled problem children and pushed aside, or perhaps the teacher is not qualified to deal with such cases. Whatever the situation, the sad truth is that in most inner city schools, it is not possible to contact the parents and ask for extra support from home or to recommend counseling. And the result is that these students are graduated from high school without ever truly learning to read.

I can only imagine the frustration of my mother and her coworkers when her program, which had statistically improved reading levels in just a few years, was terminated due to reallocation of school funds. Reading is the most basic and necessary skill in life, and we must find ways to effectively teach it. I would like to see a reading program developed that would provide specially trained teachers, but that is not financially burdensome. It may seem idealistic in the face of shamefully low school funding, but the opportunity for a child to learn to read is never to be denied. The lack of basic reading skills will hinder these children throughout their lives. It will keep them from being mobile in our society and will prevent them from living their lives the way they wish.

Hopefully, one day, I can be part of a system that eliminates the literacy problem in our state.

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Millsaps Magazine  |  Millsaps | Last Edited January 2, 2000