It’s not difficult to understand why Daisy Russell didn’t learn to read well as a child. "I was in seventeen different schools between the first and the sixth grade," Daisy recalls, "and I came from a very abusive home. My father was an alcoholic. There were times you couldn’t tell what my face looked like because I had been beaten badly. He told me I was useless, that all I was good for was having babies and keeping house, and I didn’t need an education for that."

As an adult, Daisy couldn’t depend on her third-grade reading ability to help her in daily life. "When I got a prescription, I would have the druggist tell me exactly what it was, and I would have to match up my pills by color, green for antibiotics, white for pain pills . . . I struggled greatly. I was withdrawn from the world. I didn’t trust people. I was frightened of just being out in public, because I might have to read something and people would laugh at me."

It was at Daisy’s workplace, Allied Signal in Kansas City, Missouri, that things started to change for the better. "I had been invited to a graduation party for a student in the workplace education program. That was my first contact with the program. After that, I started working with a tutor."

Life is very different for Daisy now. She is a college-level reader and a writer of poetry, and not only is she a tutor herself, but she’s also a certified tutor trainer. "Our program at work is great!" she exclaims. "It’s employees helping employees. I wish I’d found it when I was a kid!"