A Summer of Seeing Stars. A School Year of Confidence.

I wanted to share this student’s story with you as one of our Mobile, Alabama summer successes. 

Seven-year-old Seeing Stars student Claire worked incredibly hard with us this summer. It wasn’t always easy for her, but she kept showing up and doing the work. At the end of the summer, her grandmother sent us the most beautiful note and said:

“She traveled miles with you this summer in knowledge and confidence-building. It wasn't the easiest summer, but it was worth every bit of the effort.”  That sentence really captured Claire’s summer for us. Of course, we want to see academic growth, but watching a child begin to see herself differently as a learner is pretty special, too.

Claire has now started her new school year, and the update from her grandmother was exactly what we hoped to hear:

“Bottom line, this child is confident and happy.”

Her new teachers have already reviewed our pre- and post-testing, will be evaluating her reading skills as the year begins, and will continue monitoring her progress throughout the year. Her grandmother feels that Claire is in a place where she can truly thrive.

She ended her letter by telling us, “Thank you again for starting us out on the right path.”  

We had Claire for one summer, but what we were able to give her goes with her into that classroom every day. She left us with stronger skills, but just as importantly, with confidence and a belief that she can do this.

That’s the magic of a Lindamood-Bell summer. We have the opportunity to change much more than reading—we can change how a child walks into the next chapter of her life.

- Jennifer Crowder, Lindamood-Bell Learning Center Director, Mobile, Alabama