Sweet Successes

Last night at dinner with the family I learned that two of my granddaughters have received high honors at their schools with GPAs over 3.8 on a four point scale.  Needless to say I'm very pleased for and proud of both of them. This morning I attended a Literacy Alliance meeting with the mentally challenged young lady who I have been tutoring for the last year. It was a preliminary meeting for people interested in getting their GEDs which, by the way, I learned are now called HSEs (High School Equivalency degree).  As part of the morning's program the people were tested to see if they could qualify to take classes to get ready for their HSEs. My student and I decided to go, at her request, to see if she might be ready to take the classes. When I started working with her a year ago she told me very bluntly that she was retarded - her word - and had been tested as reading at a third grade level. I've wondered about that all year because it seemed to me her reading was at a higher level. But that was just my impression. Today she tested at a sixth grade reading level. She was so excited and has been signed up for the first HSE class. Success comes at all levels.