The Ripple Efect
Reflections on a First Year
June 2007
The Northern Light
For more than a decade we have marveled at the transforming effects that the Learning Centers have on the lives of individual children and families. What about the impact of our tutor training program? How does the training aspect of our mission touch our tutors, our trainees, and the educational community at large?

A little over a year ago, I found myself transplanted in central Illinois . After four years as Director of the Valley of Chicago Learning Center, I had volunteered to uproot my family and relocate to open a new center in Peoria . Once there, I found that hard work was required to get the new center up and running. Unlike many of my fellow Center Directors, I didn't have a local professional network to tap into, had no teaching colleagues in the Peoria area, and couldn't find much local expertise in dyslexia or the Orton-Gillingham approach. I was starting from absolute scratch, from the ground up. We started in July 2006 with just two trainees and three children.

Fortunately, our parents, our trainees, our Board of Governors and our Valley enthusiastically supported our growth. I had anticipated that the Learning Center wouldn't be a solo project—after all, I'd had tremendous support in Chicago from our board, staff and families. But I what I didn't anticipate was how quickly our program's reputation would grow. Unlike Chicago , Peoria is really just a large small town (even though it's the ** largest city in Illinois ). It sometimes seems that everyone knows each other. After more than a year here, it's still rare that a week goes by without learning about another “small world” connection. Word travels fast in a place like this.

In September 2006, I began training my second group with seven highly qualified trainees. Four came from a newspaper article, and the remaining three found us through various word-of-mouth paths. On our first day of training, I discovered that several of our trainees already knew each other. Some had previously worked together; others attended the same church. The small world in which I was living and working grew smaller.

As we made our way through training into the fall, I began to see that this small world was really, more than anything, a close world. Everyone knows each other because people here really invest in each other. They exhibit the basic, wholesome values that we associate with the heart of America : dedication to God and family, a solid work ethic, and civic engagement. Of course, I had experienced wonderful people and meaningful relationships in the Chicago area, too, but this small town experience has been different. Within this small, close world of Peoria , the educational community has already felt the ripple effect of the Learning Center 's work.

ur second group of trainees is now nearing certification. They've blossomed—as trainees always do—in their knowledge and understanding of language education. They've

taken the Masons' gift of knowledge and they've shared it with parents and colleagues, including teachers, speech and occupational therapists, psychologists and administrators. Take a look at what they've done outside of their work at the Center:

•  Convinced principals to provide access to high-quality professional development for teachers, focusing on sound scientifically-researched principals of initial reading instruction.

•  Taught classrooms full of children about sounds, letters, spelling rules and patterns in order to help them become more proficient readers and writers.

•  Demystified common misapprehensions about the existence, nomenclature and diagnosis of dyslexia among educational professionals.

•  Provided parents with access to appropriate reading & spelling support for dyslexic children both within and outside of the school setting.

•  Referred parents and colleagues to the Center for tutoring and training services.

Tutor trainees are grateful for the training opportunity. As one trainee explained, “In 30 years of teaching, no one has ever been able to tell us the exact things to do to teach reading. We are left to our own resources to figure it out.  But with this training, I can understand what I am supposed to do and why it is better. We are lucky to have learned from this.”

Another veteran teacher expressed her appreciation for the mentoring aspect of training.
“The supervision is so helpful. Not all of this can be learned from a book, that's for sure!”
The repercussions of our training are equally profound when they take place early in a teaching career. One trainee, Mary, shared her growing knowledge with her student teacher, an education major at a reputable central Illinois university over the past year. The student teacher has been grateful for the new insights and information. “We didn't get any of this in my college reading courses,” she has said.

Our tutors and trainees are well educated before they find us; many have already distinguished themselves in their careers. They are respected by their peers. They don't have to do our training. It takes courage and humility to tackle the rigorous, year-long commitment. They do it out of a deep desire to better themselves and the children and communities they serve.

All of our centers have stories similar to ours. B esides commending our tutor trainees, however, it's also important to recognize the broader educational community for opening themselves to our new organization and to new information. Out of respect for their colleagues and dedication to children, Peoria area educators have listened and learned. They have paid attention, and they have been willing to reconsider long-held, well-intended, but misguided beliefs about teaching children how language works.

Gina Cooke, Director 32° Masonic Learning Center,
Peoria , Illinois 309-679-1888