“When we came back to the States, we had forgotten English,” Lancer said. Relearning her mother tongue was a challenge Lancer did not relish, but it gave her a lasting appreciation for the efforts of those who struggle to master new languages.

“I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for people who are learning another language,” she said. “I know what it is, I’ve lived through it, and it’s not easy.” For the last 10 years, Lancer has done more than empathize with people struggling to learn English. Under the auspices of the Washington National Cathedral’s literacy program, she has taught English as a Second Language to children and adults.

The literacy program was founded in 1986 to provide instruction in basic literacy skills -- reading, writing and mathematics -- to children and adults. The program has about 200 tutors on its books and is still growing.

The tutors come from many walks of life, said Ruth Goodchild, who has volunteered as both tutor and program director for 18 years. Tutors must pass an initial screening and are asked to volunteer two hours a week, typically working with two students at a time and spending one hour a week with each. All lessons take place in a neutral space, such as a public library or school classroom.

In return for their time, the program offers its tutors professional development at monthly workshops that draw speakers from museums, libraries, universities and newspapers.

On a recent weekday, Juan “Chico” Melendez, a gardener at the cathedral, and Reyes “Florencio” Gonzalez, who is on the custodial staff, strolled into a conference room in the cathedral’s North Tower, composition books in hand. The two have worked to improve their English with tutor MaryJo DeMatteis for a year and previously worked with other tutors in the program for about three years.

“I’ve learned a lot since I started,” said Melendez, a 48-year-old El Salvador native, flashing a gold-toothed smile. “We only learn slow because we only take two hours a week, and we are old -- our brains are slow.”

As a child, Gonzalez studied English in his native Guatemala. “I say to myself, when am I going to need English?” he said. “I didn’t know. When I came here I spoke a little English, but people couldn’t understand me because of my accent.”

Years later, the 68-year-old is keenly aware that “language is very important. Very, very important.” And he is proud that his English has improved so much.

“Here in the church, almost every day I help somebody,” he said. “All the tourists, they ask where’s the nearest restaurant, how they can take a bus, where they can take the Metro.” He also can assist fellow Latinos who speak limited English.

Useful knowledge

“I try to do things they need to know,” DeMatteis said. She has taught the two how to use maps, give directions and use a dictionary. “They’ll ask me things they want to learn -- idioms, slang.”

DeMatteis has done other volunteer work, but “somehow the challenges and rewards of working with these men who are devoted to improving their life in their second country touches my soul in a very special place,” she said. “In many ways, they have taught me as I have them.”

Part of the program’s continuing success has been its ability to address the differing needs of its students, Goodchild said.

“You’re not forced into doing things a certain way,” Lancer said. “You’re allowed to use your own imagination and adapt according to the person you’re tutoring. You have to find out what they need.”

Lancer said she had taught her students how to cash their paychecks as well as helped them to acquire enough basic language skills to land a job.

While some of the program’s tutors, like DeMatteis, concentrate their efforts on adults, others choose to work with children. Tom Allen has volunteered with the program since 1993, when he retired from his job as a federal Social Security administrator. He decided to work with children after reading a book by Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the nonprofit Children’s Defense Fund.

“Marian Wright Edelman’s bottom line was that, if you are considering doing volunteer work, do it with children," he said. "That is our future.”

One morning each week, Allen helps second- and third-graders with their assignments at Stoddert Elementary School in Northwest Washington, D.C. He listens to them read, reads to them and works on vocabulary or narrative math problems. Sometimes he corrects their homework and goes over it with them.

“They all are very willing to seek help, and they cooperate well. They’re amazing,” he said. The work can be “exhausting,” but it's worth it, he said. "Almost every week there’s something that makes it very worthwhile to be there.”

Over at the District of Columbia’s Marie H. Reed Learning Center, a Title 1 public elementary school, Gary McDavid also tutors children. McDavid, a tax lawyer who helps Goodchild with the literacy program’s administration, is affiliated with an organization called Everybody Wins!, a nonprofit devoted to promoting children's literacy. The program is the largest grassroots children's literacy and mentoring program in the Washington, D.C., area, and several of the cathedral’s tutors volunteer with some of the more than 3,000 children enrolled.

Seventy percent of children in the nation’s capital don’t read at the appropriate level, McDavid said, and 40 percent don’t graduate from high school. “Working with literacy for children is particularly important.”

McDavid said he particularly encouraged older people to give generously of their time.
“For older people -- and you find a lot of older people in churches -- you can sit around and play golf all day if you want, but you get value in your life by helping others; you do,” he said. “Who can’t sit and read The Cat in the Hat with a child?”

From Dr. Seuss to Harry Potter

During a late-autumn lunch hour, while children jumped rope in the playground, the Everybody Wins! readers arrived in the Marie Reed library with their lunch trays. They selected books from a carefully chosen stack. As they ate, the mentors read to them. After lunch, the children took over, tackling everything from Dr. Seuss to the Harry Potter series.

Seven-year-old Claudia Contreras finished reading the Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham, with tutor Sean McAllister and declared it was her favorite book. The best part was “the one with the goat and the train and the dark,” she announced, sipping milk through a straw before moving on to a book called Chameleons are Cool.

While many students need help, Douglas Balz chose to focus his energy on one, developing a strong bond with the young man he has tutored for three years. “If you save one life, you save the world,” he said.

When Balz started working with him, the 17-year-old was on the verge of flunking his senior year of high school. Now he’s a sophomore in college, and Balz hopes to see him through to graduation.

While Balz’s tutoring has helped his student begin to realize his academic potential, his presence at the individual study sessions was just as important, Balz said.

“I was always there. I said I’d be there, and I was there. Showing up means a lot to them, it really does, because a lot of people in their lives have not shown up.”

That little bit of extra attention can make all the difference, said Marian Cover, a retired teacher who recently tutored a 17-year old Shaw Junior High student who was still in eighth grade.

During her first session, Cover insisted that the two exchange contracts. The student promised she would be on time, get a good night’s sleep and eat lunch before class. She also promised to follow Cover’s rules and strive to improve her grades. In turn, Cover promised she would be on time, well rested, patient and understanding. The two met twice a week for the entire school year.

“She did well,” Cover said. True to her word, her student pulled her grades up. “It goes to show that wherever you come from, if you really want to, you can do it.”

Concluded Goodchild, “I’ve always hoped that by getting out information about a program like ours, any church can start something like that. All it needs is some warm bodies and some gentle hearts with a keen love of words. … It’s not hard; all you have to do is do it. Get a few together and start.”