Tutors Offer Safety Net for Adult Students : Education: A volunteer program is helping to keep the classroom setting from being an overwhelming experience to those who return to learn.

A 29-year-old San Diego man who had gotten by with minimal reading skills all his life failed to realize he had a problem until three years ago, while looking for a job.

“I didn’t know that I couldn’t read until my wife told me,” he said. “My wife always filled out job applications for me and wrote out checks. I thought I read enough to get by. I could write my name.”

But when the unemployed student from Jamaica tried to get a job as an electrical assemblyman, he discovered from test scores that he was reading on a first-grade level. The student, who asked that his name not be used, enrolled in a reading class at one of San Diego Community College District’s continuing education centers.

But often, when adults enroll in a basic education class and find that their skills are far below those of the other students in the class, they drop out, said Nancy Hampson, coordinator of the Literacy Instruction Tutors in Education, a program started in 1987 by the San Diego Community College District to keep these students learning.

“It takes great courage for people who can’t read to enroll in a class, and find that their skills are far below the other students in the class,” Hampson said. “They feel embarrassed, frustrated and defeated. They drop out after a few sessions with the impression that an adult education class is another place of failure.”

The literacy volunteer program has become a safety net for those like the Jamaican student, she said. The individualized instruction allows students to improve basic reading, spelling, and math skills without feeling like outcasts in a classroom of strangers. Most of the students were also high-school dropouts.

The district started the LITE program with six volunteers. Today, there are nearly 150 volunteers who serve about 318 students at eight of the 10 continuing adult education centers in the county.

LITE is the only adult tutoring program in the county. It is a branch of the San Diego County Literacy Network, which is a coalition of 13 adult literacy programs. LITE is funded by a three-year, $60,000 allocation from California lottery funds.

Volunteers receive 12 hours of training. Afterward, they choose which students they want to tutor, based on the students’ learning capabilities. Some tutors may meet with as many as five students a week.

“I’ve obtained confidence from my teacher,” said a 67-year-old student who also asked that his name not be used. “I took the driver’s test and did good. I got 100. When I first came, I could read some but couldn’t write unless I copied it. I wanted to read some good books, to read recipes, so I could cook.”

He said he was promoted throughout grade school without learning how to read and write. He was embarrassed and hid the fact that he could not read around the other children because he thought he was too dumb to learn.

The retired janitor was also “too embarrassed to marry or have children” because he could not read or write.

For two years, he said, he kept applying for a janitor’s position at San Diego State University, where he eventually worked for 18 years.

“The boss kept telling me, ‘I told you I don’t have anything,’ and I kept saying, ‘You don’t understand, I want a job.’ I finally told him that if I couldn’t handle the job, then I would leave. I did everything but beg.”

Jenny Hartman, who tutors the ex-janitor, says helping people like him is what makes the task worthwhile.

“He’s enthusiastic and wants to learn,” Hartman said. “He has made a great deal of progress, and has gained a lot of confidence. One day he saw a sign on the board and read it aloud. A year ago he couldn’t read. Now he reads Dickens.”

Half of LITE’s volunteers work with students who perform on levels from preschool to eighth-grade. The other half help students studying English as a second language, and students preparing for the GED high-school equivalency diploma.

Dale F. Lovell, 78, is a retired teacher who volunteers 6 hours a week just for fun.

“I love it, it keeps me going,” he said. “Enjoyed teaching all my life.”

Lovell, who taught for more than 50 years, has been a tutor for four years. He said that most of his students never learned to read in grade school and are ashamed to admit it.

One of his students, 46-year-old Ar Mark, is learning survival English. She came to the United States three years ago from Cambodia. Mark takes care of her husband who suffers from asthmatic problems.

Paula Cervantes, 47, did field work in Texas and never went to school. She said that she plans to get her GED and hopes to learn English well enough to become a Spanish-English translator.

Anita Whelan, an instructor for the reading development class, said that her students read on preschool through third-grade levels. She said that most of the students want to learn how to read to get better jobs, or to get the education they did not get in grade school.

As for measuring the program’s success, Hampson says that is difficult because most of the students have their own goals, Hampson said.

“About 33% get frustrated and drop out, never meeting their goals, and 66% meet their goals and go on to the classroom program when they’re ready for more independent learning. Some only want to learn how to read to get a driver’s license, and then they drop out,” she said.