Two years ago, Michael came to our school as a sophomore. He was very quiet and uncooperative. He sat in the back of the class and did not participate. His grades were terrible.

I began tutoring Michael in January. A month later, his literature teacher brought me his paper and wanted to know how to grade it. It contained only two lines. The first line had no punctuation, capitalization or spaces. The second was easy to read: “What’s the point?”

The following year she brought me his paper. It was five pages long! He had become such an animated and self-assured young man that he was an absolute joy to have in class.

In October, he had to take the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test. Level 1-well below standard, Level 2-below standard, Level 3-meets standard (average to above average), Level 4-exceeds standard.

Michael shared his scores with us: 3 in Math, 3 in Writing, and 4 in Reading!!! He was very proud, and we were dancing on the rooftops!