Another Three Good Things About Masons, This Time in Michegan

Those Masons are at it again! Teaching kids with dyslexia how to read! What will they think of next? I can't say enough good things about the 32-degree Masonic Learning Centers--they use techniques that have been proven to work, they know it takes a lot of time and are up front about it, they reach out to teachers in public schools, and they

DON'T CHARGE PARENTS A DIME

This time the story is in Michigan, where there are three learning centers: Bay City, Grand Rapids and Detroit.

Dealing with Dyslexia Sunday, August 29, 2004By Amy Jo JohnsonTIMES WRITER

Looking back, Tracy Szafranski suspected something wasn't quite right with her daughter's language skills before she even started attending school. "She's really smart, but we would do letters and she would say a different letter," Szafranski said. "Jamie is such a bright child, I was like, 'Why is she not getting this?' " But it was when Jamie started school that Szafranski knew something was up for sure. "Because I could see what the other kids could do, and Jamie wasn't doing it," Szafranski said.

Teachers told her to give it another year. Some people said Jamie just didn't want to read. But Szafranski said she knew there had to be more to it than that. So she went to the library and began reading all she could about troubled readers and that's when she discovered dyslexia. "The more I read, the more I thought, 'Wow, this sounds just like Jamie,' " Szafranski said.

The Orton Dyslexia Society defines dyslexia as a neurologically based, often familial, disorder that interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. It is characterized by difficulties with word recognition, poor spelling and problems with reading comprehension.

A teacher at Jamie's elementary school, who also works as a tutor for kids who have dyslexia, told Szafranski about the 32-degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children Inc., which offers a one-on-one tutoring program for dyslexic kids. Szafranski, who lives in Beaver Township, said the tutoring program has offered something invaluable to her 9-year-old daughter.

Hope.

"It's so wonderful. She benefits so much from it," Szafranski said. "When she started, she couldn't even read any books, anything." Jamie was accepted to the Bay City Learning Center in February 2003 and began sessions with a tutor to decode the words and sounds she was struggling to comprehend.

Sandra Lane, director of the 32-degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children Inc. in Bay City, said students in the tutoring program participate for 28 weeks during the school year and six weeks in the summer.

"It's generally a two-year commitment. Basically, we see them twice a week for an hour of tutoring for 34 weeks a year," she said. Lane said the program starts with single consonants and ending with suffixes. Tutors use the Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory approach that includes hearing, seeing, touch and muscle memory to help students break down the language into basic elements.

Class size at the center is limited to 24 children in grades K-12.

At the end of the program, Lane said, children generally have gained three and a half years of grade level reading. Jamie, who will be a fourth-grader this fall, has only been in the program for a year and is scheduled to graduate in April. She's already made remarkable progress, her mother said, but there's still more work to be done.

Jamie's best friend really enjoys books, and Szafranski said it's hard, because Jamie just wants to be like her friend. "She cries and she says, 'I just want to be like that,' " Szafranski said. "It just tears at you." But Jamie's not alone. Fifteen to 20 percent of the population has a learning disability and 80 percent of those who have a learning disability, have one in reading, Lane said.

"And most of those people with a learning disability in reading are dyslexic," she said. The National Institutes of Health estimate that more than 2 million school-age children in the United States are dyslexic.

Cases of dyslexia, which range from mild to severe, can't be simplified down to children seeing jumbled numbers or letters.

"It's more a matter of processing information in the brain than how something looks on paper," said Lane, who has served as director of the Learning Center since it began four years ago. "The brain of a dyslexic person processes written language in a different way than the brain of a non-dyslexic person. Once they learn the language code, then they have a means by which to decipher the language."

Lane said there are signs that parents can pick up on fairly early in a child's development that are good indicators for dyslexia. Unfortunately, those indicators are often missed, and the child is left to struggle in school. "They know something's wrong, and they think they're dumb," she said. "Some people may think they're lazy."

Children whose dyslexia goes unnoticed often have low self-esteem and are anxious. "It's just sad. It really is," Lane said. Dyslexia may not be curable, but the good news is, it is manageable with the proper training, she said. Most of the children who go through the center's tutoring program come away with better reading skills and a better self-image. "Their self-concept is measurably improved," Lane said.

Joe Berlandi, executive director of the 32-degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children Inc., said the program essentially helps kids rebuild their self-esteem along with their reading skills. And reading touches so many aspects of life, it's imperative for children to learn. "How can you do anything without knowing how to read?" Berlandi said.

To date, Masonic Learning Centers have helped thousands of kids with dyslexia. "We're celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, and I would say over 4,000 children have gone through our program," Berlandi said. "We're graduating a substantial number each year."

But the 32-degree Masonic Learning Centers do more than teach children with dyslexia. They also teach teachers. "Our mission is two-fold: To train teachers and to teach children to read," Lane said. Teachers need to embrace the fact that they will have dyslexic students and should educate themselves as to the best methods for teaching them, Lane said. "The awareness needs to be raised that there are dyslexic kids in their classrooms," she said.

Lane said the Learning Center also trains tutors to work with students. Tutors - who are always in demand - have to have a bachelor's degree and attend a 45-hour, master level class at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Bay City. The class is offered each summer and tutor candidates can receive college credit for the class through Central Michigan University.

Tutors also have to successfully complete 100 hours of practicum, where they are observed and evaluated working with students. "It's a huge commitment," Lane said. Once they are certified, tutors are paid and assigned to work with students.

The Masonic Learning Centers got their start in 1994. Today, there are a total of 47 learning centers in the 15 states that make up the northern jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. The Masons are a division of the Scottish Rite fraternity, just like the Shriners are a division.

There are three learning centers in Michigan, in Bay City, Grand Rapids and Detroit. All centers are funded through donations and offer their services free of charge, Lane said. It costs $5,000 to provide Learning Center services for one child for one year.

Child sponsors are always welcome. To learn more about how to make a gift, call (781) 862-8518.

- Amy Jo Johnson covers features for The Times. She can be reached at 894-9637.

© 2004 Bay City Times.

Copyright 2004 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

So if you care about kids, especially dyslexic kids who can't afford treatment, go shake the hand of a Mason. And maybe put a few bills toward the fundraising, too.

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