Celebrating our Stories
By: Kelly Fox, Director of Adult Basic Education


Last year all of us at Literacy Services have spent a lot of time reflecting on half a century of providing educational programs for undereducated adults in our community. The milestone of our 50th Anniversary  inspired many to wonder where our former students are now and how their lives have been impacted by the time they spent with us. The idea to create a book of those stories was hatched by cultural anthropologist Joanne Passaro, who recruited journalist Linda Spice to coordinate a substantial effort to find and interview former students. With their energy and commitment, additional volunteers, including current and past board members and staff, joined in to help make this idea come to life. I got involved to help with the interviews, fact checking, and editing, and Dustin Slane took on the role of book designer. These efforts resulted in the publication of “Unlocking Potential: Literacy Services of Wisconsin Celebrates 50 Years,” an inspirational compilation of stories about perseverance, empowerment, and achievement.

To give you a taste of the stories contained in this amazing book, I am sharing the story of Dennis. Dennis is a former ABE student whose commitment to strengthening his foundational literacy skills helped him retain and advance his career while others around him lost their jobs. We are honored that Dennis partly attributes his success to the knowledge he attained through his studies at Literacy Services; we applaud his hard work and determination to achieve, and we congratulate him on his recent retirement! His story, like so many others, reminds us all how important this work is to the people we serve, to their families, and to our community. We are excited to offer “Unlocking Potential: Literacy Services of Wisconsin Celebrates 50 Years” for sale through Amazon.com. I invite you to look it over and order your copy today! We also have copies available for purchase here at our offices. Ask to see a copy the next time you are here! Please enjoy the following excerpt from “Unlocking Potential”:

Pictured with his polo shirt featuring
the original logo for Literacy Services,
former student, Dennis, shares how
our reading program helped advance
his skills and further his career. 

Dennis came to Literacy Services in 1995. His co-worker was in a program at LSW, and Dennis thought it would be a good idea for him to improve his skills as his job requirements changed. “A lot of jobs want you to take classes to learn new skills,” he observed, “and I figured that I needed to work on my reading and spelling so I could qualify for those classes.”

Dennis was persistent and motivated; he studied reading and spelling at LSW two or three times a week for almost nine years. His work at Literacy Services gave him the foundation he needed to take a number of job-related classes over the years. Dennis learned a variety of new skills, and became a certified welder. He kept updating his skills and learning new ones, which helped him advance in his career and also seemed to insulate him from layoffs.

“I had figured it might help with layoffs,” Dennis recalled. “Those new skills kept you from getting laid off. Many times, I would keep working when other guys who were there longer than me were getting laid off.”

Dennis fondly remembers working with many wonderful tutors over the course of his time at Literacy Services. He enjoyed the learning environment and appreciated being challenged to improve: “I had some great tutors! A couple of them got on me, well, not exactly, but pushed me hard in some areas where I needed it. I enjoyed that. I don’t remember all of the tutors’ names, but they were good people. It was fun, and I enjoyed working with them.”

Dennis is now retired. He and his wife moved from Wisconsin to Arkansas in July of 2014. He looks back on a rewarding welding career and considers his studies at Literacy Services to be an important part of his success. Dennis enjoyed the learning process and continued to learn throughout the course of his working life.

“I couldn’t have taken all those courses without the work I was doing on reading. I qualified for them and it made a big difference,” recounted Dennis. Those courses not only resulted in his advanced certification as a welder, but in other skills that enhanced his value as an employee. “Not being laid off. That was because of all the studying I did. And I enjoyed it a lot.”

Look for our award-winning book on Amazon.com
“Unlocking Potential” won the Bronze Award in the recent Adobe Software & TechSoup design contest for non-profit organizations. Thank you to all of our friends on Facebook who helped us stand out among the other non-profits competing around the nation!

Common Thread
By: Ginger Duiven, Executive Director

I woke up on Monday morning and I was dragging. The attacks in Paris and Beirut were on my mind. My heart felt heavy. My motivation and optimism were low. Over the next hour I slowly pushed myself forward. I coaxed myself to get on with my day when all I really wanted to do was stay covered up in bed, safe from the world. As I reflected on my own personal struggle that morning I thought about the nature of motivation, how elusive it can suddenly become. I also thought about how I seemingly tricked myself to get going anyway, and how, in doing so, I was able to leave some of the heaviness behind.

As I arrived at the office and started to greet the staff, early bird tutors, and students, I wondered what their mornings had been like. Was this a day when they, too, tricked themselves to get going? As I watched people settle in and get to work, I could truly see and feel our connectedness. I didn’t see our differences that morning, despite the fact that I was surrounded by an amazingly diverse group of people. There was a woman from China next to a retiree I knew to be struggling with a health problem. There was a refugee from Sudan and a man from Iran and an immigrant from Mexico. There were my coworkers, some with personal troubles I knew they were carrying with them. They were smiling and working to get tutors and students what they needed to get to work. There were men and women, black and white. There were young adults and elderly people. There were retired teachers and bankers and housewives and professors. There were artists and math geeks and gamers and cooks and on and on. Yet, I genuinely felt connected to each and
every one there. 

Often I see how disconnected from each other we have become. But on this morning I could see and feel how each person was connected to me and to each other by our common struggles as humans. To persist and carry on, to push back our fears, to take our focus off of our heavy hearts and get out of bed anyway; to find our optimism that things can get better and that we can do something about it ourselves was the common thread that felt so real and true. It made me feel stronger and more optimistic to notice this thread; I was not alone. I could see that morning that all the people around us are not as different from us as they sometimes might appear. And not only that, they did not seem scary, they seemed just like me. 

Where am I going with this you might want to know? Well my optimism has not only returned but my heart is full. I can see how this place, Literacy Services of Wisconsin, is so much more than the sum of its tutoring sessions and GEDs, student progress and citizenships received. It is a place that transcends differences to build genuine connections and understanding between seemingly “different” people. Our common bonds emerge, new solutions are found, we are vulnerable together and through it we find strength. It might just be an antidote to fear, terror, despair, and hate.

Far fetched?
I don’t think so.

All Aboard! Meet the Newest Members of Literacy Services' Board of Directors

Over the last year our board of directors have added four new members, who together, bring a diverse set of skills and knowledge and a passion for our mission. We are excited to introduce these dedicated volunteer leaders to you. The new members are Rodney A. Chapman of GE Healthcare, Ann Kramer-Haag of Zilber Ltd., Joshua Palleon of BMO Private Bank, and Susan Walker of JPMorgan Chase. We invite you to get to know them; read on!

Rodney A. Chapman, Ed.D, MAOM, DLL, LSSBB
Rodney earned his Doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University, a Masters Degree in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix, and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Beginning his career in the United States Navy, where he advanced to Lieutenant Commander and became Commanding Officer of the Navy & Marine Corps Reserve Center in South Bend, Indiana, Rodney is now the Director of Training (Global Services) for GE Healthcare.


Ann Kramer-Haag
Ann graduated with honors from Alverno College with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Communications. She serves as Director of Human Resources at Zilber Ltd. She brings over 30 years of human resources, general business and administrative services experience. Through her work with the Zilber Family Foundation, Ann has developed an extensive base of knowledge of the Milwaukee community's needs.




Joshua Palleon, CFA
Josh earned an MBA from Marquette University and a BBA from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh. As Regional Director - Investments at BMO Private Bank, Josh oversees the development and delivery of investment management and advisory services to high net worth individuals, families and organizations, including endowments and foundations. He joined the organization in 2004 and has over 13 years of experience in the financial services industry.


Susan Walker
Susan graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a BBA majoring in finance. Susan has been in banking for 25 years, working with predominantly closely held businesses. In that time, she has held roles ranging from business development to risk analysis to upper management. Today, she serves as a Commercial Banker at JPMorgan Chase. Often, her roles have involved leading the development/implementation changes in philosophy and/or market positioning. Susan brings her extensive experience serving on local non-profit Boards.