D.C. Theissens graduated from White Pines High School in McGill in 1963 without knowing how to read. It took him five years, however, because he had a bout of rheumatic fever in ninth grade. At a meeting in October of a local chapter of The Executive Committee, a national organization of chief executive officers, Thiessens confessed his problem to 12 other leaders of local businesses. After the meeting, he was referred to a doctor by a friend whose son had a learning disability. Then he found Ella Moss, who has spent the last eight months teaching Theissens how to read for nearly an hour five nights a week.
Children learn more automatically.
They are drilled and practiced and it seems to come more naturally, but he can tell me what he is thinking and where his frustrations are. Thiessens has now read two books, including one on management, and is determined to learn to read faster. In the past, instead of reading mail at his desk, he would bring it home so his wife, Bonnie Thiessens, could read aloud to him. That means 12 percent of area residents have difficulty in the reading, writing and computational skills necessary to function in everyday life. The state average is at 15 percent, while about 22 percent of the nation reads at a level one ability.