Freeing adults from illiteracy
As the nation's leaders call for immigrants to learn English, groups like Project Light lead the way
BY ERIK MAZA

MANATEE COUNTY -- It took a broken back for Catalina Rodriguez to get to school.

The 48-year-old Mexican woman has spent most of her life taking care of her brothers and sisters and eight children of her own.

In all that time, she had never had a chance to go to school or take time off from work to sneak in a reading lesson or learn how to pick up a pencil.

It wasn't until a door fell on her at the factory where she worked that she decided to take a break and finally do what she had wanted for so long -- learn how to read and write, and how to speak English.

"I live here. I don't want to depend on anyone," she said. "All my grandchildren speak English; I'd like to be able to speak with them."

As President Bush and Congress urge millions of immigrants to learn English and assimilate, many of them, like Rodriguez, are having to cope with illiteracy in their native language before taking on the new challenge.

Rodriguez went to Project Light for help six months ago. The agency didn't have a program designed for people in Rodriguez's situation.

But its governing board changed that by enrolling six students in a pilot program designed for people without reading or writing skills in their native language.

The pilot project is the first step toward eradicating what is a larger problem facing immigrants from all countries, said Sister Nora Brick, founder of Project Light.

In six months, Rodriguez has learned how to print her name and write simple sentences in her beaten spelling copybook. She reads at the fourth-grade level.

In San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where she lived until she legally came to the U.S. in 1987, Catalina spent most of her youth taking care of her siblings.

She married at 16 and has been working nonstop since then.

With eight children and 10 grandchildren now, she said the class is an opportunity to make up for lost time.

"I like to write," she said. "Once you learn, you feel better, you feel motivated. It helps my self-esteem."

The six students in the new group are all from Latin America, over 35, married and parents.

With Sally Radice, a volunteer at Project Light for four years, they come in on Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m., following regular Project Light English classes, and gather in a cramped room near the back.

As the oldest of the bunch, Catalina sits at the end of the table, watching over the others' progress.

In part, what distinguishes the pilot project is Radice's insistence that Spanish not be spoken at all. Instead, she starts students as if they were in kindergarten learning English for the first time, with basic phonics instruction, memorizing the alphabet and practicing writing in a spelling copybook.

A typical lesson begins with some vocabulary building exercises and reading comprehension of sentences like "this is an egg" or "this is the color blue." Along the way, they may also sing a song like "Yankee Doodle Dandy," correcting each other's mistakes.

Although she's been there the longest, Rodriguez still gets choked up every time Radice asks her to lead the lesson.

In her spelling copybook, she keeps a record of all the words she's learned since she started, and how to pronounce and spell them.

In her 31 years working at the Daily Bread and Stillpoint House of Prayer, Sister Brick has always seen an eagerness to learn among migrant workers, but she said many can't get over the initial shame of not knowing, or can't get away from work and family to commit themselves to school.

"It's an awful world to live in, illiteracy; it's like a prison," Brick said. "But after you've spent all day picking tomatoes, you're in no mood to learn."

Although no one knows how many other students would be willing to move around their lives and jobs to sneak in a reading lesson, Luz Corcuera, a board member at Project Light, thinks the pilot project will eventually be successful.

"Parents know that if they don't have the skills, their children will be limited," she said. "It's not just a tool they're learning; it's a way out for their kids."


Last modified: June 19. 2006 4:23AM
Reference: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006606190465