Paul is 45 years old and lives in the Uxbridge area. His formal education ended when he was 13 years old and since that time Paul has struggled with his writing skills.
Paul originally contacted the program because he was having difficulty at work and worried that he would lose his job promotion as a supervisor. One of the new requirements for his job is to write emails and reports regularly. Before coming to LEADR, Paul coped by phoning his spouse to double-check his spelling over the phone for all his documents. Confidentiality was extremely important for Paul, since he felt his job depended on secrecy. As well, he felt embarrassed that he was unable to help his children with their schoolwork.
Currently, Paul is working towards entering into a high school preparation course and will soon be leaving Learning Essentials having successfully improved his skills to meet his goals!
The following is an actual letter written by Paul, with minimal help with his tutor:
Learning
One evening I saw an ad for [Learning Essentials for Adults in Durham Region]. It described a program that offered free and confidential on-on-one tutoring for reading, writing and spelling skills improvement. I had been looking for something like this for a long time.
My job as a warehouse manager increasingly required more literacy skills then I had. I also felt challenged to get my High School diploma by the time my thirteen-year-old daughter got hers. I hoped getting my diploma would make me more confident and independent at work and in my personal life.
Since starting the course I have learned to spell the most commonly used words, learned about spelling rules, syllables, grammar, sentences and many other things. This program will prepare me for the upcoming High School courses that I plan to take. With about forty hours of tutoring behind me I have noticed a great improvement in all my literacy skills and am truly looking forward to the remainder of the course,
Sincerely,
A Grateful Student