Meet Bob!

For as long as he can remember, Bob has worked in the field of education, assisting both adults and children. Bob worked as a special education teacher for nine years in an elementary school, as an Executive Director for a nonprofit organization for about fifteen years, and as a Director of Special Education in an education center.

Bob didn’t want to stop teaching and helping others after he retired, so he looked into tutoring. “I wanted to be able to share some of my skills with other human beings in the area of education that I believe so strongly in,” he says. Bob volunteered as a tutor for another organization, where he helped approximately 8 students from various countries, including China, Mexico, and Honduras. He is currently tutoring Luis, a Honduran student, on basic vocabulary and grammar, as well as studying for his driver’s license exam, which he recently passed! “Luis is an absolutely delightful individual. He is so polite, always saying thank you. Now that I think about it, in all of my teaching years, I have never been thanked for teaching.”

For Bob, Fox Valley Literacy is an irreplaceable service in our community, “I think this organization is a tremendous support system for people that have come to the U.S and wish to become citizens or to provide valuable skills to our society. I haven’t met any of the students that I have worked with that don’t have that philosophy. They have such a strong desire to learn.” He believes that everyone in the Fox Valley should know of this service and the incredible work that tutors do. “We have tutors in our community that care and want to see other human beings succeed through education and literacy. I can’t imagine with the number of immigrants that our community has, how successful they would be without the Fox Valley Literacy service, I just can’t imagine.”

Thank you, Bob, for everything you’ve done for our community; we’re grateful to have you, as well as all of our amazing volunteers, who help us share the power of learning every day!