Stories of Success

Volunteer Tutors help Adult Learners Reach Their Goals

Ezekial and Jay

Ezekial Campbell attended only primary school as a young child in Jamaica. After coming to the U.S. in 1979, he learned a trade as a plasterer in construction. But he has reached a point in his life where he would like to earn his GED and be able to read and write well enough so he can be promoted to a supervisory position, one which requires scheduling, managing finances and more.

We know Ezekial will be successful because he meets with his tutor, Jay Brown, every week. Jay is a fellow Jamaican who recently retired as a government employee, relocating to Orlando from Washington, DC. He volunteers as a tutor as part of his community service to the Jamaican/American Association of Central Florida. Jay says Ezekial is a hard worker and is committed to learning, never missing a tutoring session.

Ezekial Campbell (left) counts on the support and instruction from his tutor, Jay Brown (right), who is helping improve his reading so he can obtain his GED and become a supervisor at his construction job.

Shemsia and Janet

Shemsia Mohammed is a native of Ethiopia where she had seven years of schooling. She could not read or write at all in English when she came to the U.S. eight years ago. She particularly struggled with conversational English that is so often riddled with slang and idioms. Her goal is to be proficient in English so that she can join the PTA of her daughter’s school and volunteer there.
Shemsia’s tutor, Janet Line, is dedicated to helping her learn all she can and encourages her to take supplemental ESOL classes at ALL as part of her instructional program.

Shemsia (left) is all smiles because she is learning so much from her tutor, Janet Line (right).

Suzanne and Gina

Suzanne Eustache was born in Haiti but has been in Florida for more than 36 years. Though she takes advantage of ESOL instruction, she is actually a basic literacy student because she has never attended school.

Her native language is Haitian Creole, but her English is becoming more fluent. She has made great progress from attending ALL classes and working with her tutor, Gina Dauphin. Suzanne expresses her gratitude for learning by serving the community as a Literacy Ambassador for ALL and by feeding the homeless on a weekly basis for the Ephraim Project.

Gina Dauphin (left) has been helping Suzanne Eustache (right) improve her English reading and writing skills.