My Second Greatest Gift
Kay Werner
A Speech to SIUE PKP Initiates
March 26, 2004
Thank you and good evening.
Congratulations to the new members of Phi Kappa Phi, fellow members of Phi Kappa Phi,
distinguished faculty and staff, and guests.
When Bill Hamrick called and asked me to speak to you this evening, my immediate response
was”yes, I would love to”. What an honor to have such a prestigious and respected organization
consider that I had something worthwhile to say! Something to share! But, as soon as I hung up
the phone, I felt like a deer caught in headlights. What in the world could I say to you? What
could I tell you that might spark some thought; some reaction? After a lot of thought, I decided
my goals tonight are to share a deep passion and sincere concern about what is my second
greatest gift. Maybe you will discover it’s one of your greatest gifts as well.
First let me tell you about my first greatest gift. When I was 13 years old I attended a ceremony
for my sister’s capping in nurses training. It was an exciting day for my sister and my family. My
parents, aunts, uncles and cousins were sitting in the audience. I was doing what most 13-yearold kids do, not listening very well, thinking about what we were going to do after the ceremony.
However, the speaker caught my attention when he said something that has stayed with me to
this day. He said, “Life never passes anyone by; people choose to pass their life by.” I knew my
greatest gift is -- my life; and it was up to me to make sure I did not pass it by.
I set goals, including getting an education, chose a profession that is constantly challenging,
sought opportunities, took an active role in my community, had a family and valued many things
and people around me; all have enriched my life.
For example, when I went away to the University, I knew no one there. My high school was very
small. My class had 49 graduates. A goal of mine at my large university, the University of
Missouri Columbia, and not difficult to achieve I might add, was to meet a new person every
day; a person “different” from me. I met people of different religions, from different countries, of
different races and ethnic backgrounds, and with different philosophies of life. Much of my
education at the University occurred outside of the classroom, experiences that added far more to
my life than I thought possible.
“Let the love of learning rule humanity,” the motto of Phi Kappa Phi spoken to you earlier in the
evening by Dr. Hamrick, certainly describes my second greatest gift, the gift of literacy, the tool
for learning. I have many to thank for my ability to read and write the English language. Of
course, the first persons I think of are my parents, my teachers, and many great writers. Books
were in my home, and reading was a daily activity. We did not own a TV until I was ten years
old. Yes, I am that old. Free time on a farm with no neighbors required finding the “outside”
world through books.
My life, and your lives, have been spent within the literate world. In fact, most of us take this gift
for granted; it’s something we’ve done for a long time and we’ve done it very well.
Imagine if you could not read or write or could not read and write adequately to function in our
society. Tonight’s ceremony would not be part of your life. You would not be here tonight being
recognized for your academic achievement. You would not own the tools for learning: reading
and writing.
Likewise, you would not be contemplating careers in fields such as: engineering, nursing,
creative writing, teaching, dentistry or pharmacy. Your ambitions would consist of making a
living, a living with many limits to what you could do.
Your daily life of emails, researching the Internet, writing papers, and reading the local sports
page—the daily activities you take for granted--would be out of your reach. You wouldn’t be
able to fill out a job application, read important documents, or vote without assistance. You
would not be able to balance your checkbook or compute simple interest.
Regrettably, there are many Americans who are not experiencing the life you are leading,
because they either cannot read or cannot read adequately. Why can’t they read? The reasons
vary widely from poor schooling, lack of school attendance, limited English due to immigration,
learning disabilities, learning limitations, or just plain lack of practice.
According to the 1991 National Literacy Act, Congress defined literacy as, and I quote, “an
individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at
levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and
develop one's knowledge and potential.”
At the turn of the 20th century, functional literacy meant being able to read basic information
and sign your name. By World War II, functional literacy was the equivalent of a 5th grade
education. The Workforce 2000 Report by the U.S. Department of Labor estimates the median
new job requires the equivalent of 13.5 years of education. New jobs require literacy skills at
increasing levels of proficiency.
And yet, The U.S. Department of Education reports 44% of all American adults do not read one
book in the course of a year.
What are the consequences of illiteracy or functional illiteracy? Here are a few.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 50% of the unemployed are functionally
illiterate.
Seven of the 10 men and women in our prisons today -- a population that has doubled since 1990
-- function at levels 1 and 2, the lowest levels of the National Adult Literacy Survey. The 1992
National Adult Literacy Survey rated literacy skills on a 1-5 scale from minimal or no skills in
level 1 to advanced skills in level 5.
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Twenty-one percent or 40-44 million American adults function at the lowest level in the National
Adult Literacy Survey. Even if this data were flawed and the level is only 10-11%, it would
represent 20-22 million Americans. Of those 40-44 million Americans, 43% live in poverty.
Adults at level 1, the lowest level of the National Adult Literacy Survey make an average of
$240 per week, compared to an average of $681 for the highest level.
Adults at level one worked an average 19 weeks per year while those at the highest level worked
an average 44 weeks per year.
I look forward to the results of the 2003 National Adult Literacy Survey. The results will be
available in June of 2005.
Additional results include:
Being on welfare is directly related to literacy, and three of every four food stamp recipients
function at the two lowest levels of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy Survey.
The bottom line is that the gap between the Haves and Have Nots is widening. The disparities of
literacy and technical skill are widening and those are driving disparities in income.
This is alarming. The scope of the effects of these gaps is pervasive, reaching into all our lives. It
affects our economy, our culture and our system of government. Democracy requires a literate
society.
My work with literacy began when I was a doctoral student working in the Adult Education
Service Center on this campus. In 1987, the estimated functionally illiterate Americans totaled
25 million adults. That estimate increased with the release of the results of the 1992 National
Assessment of Adult Literacy, which indicated an estimated 21%, or 40-44 million adult
Americans falling into the lowest category. The performance of this population varied widely
from total illiteracy to minimal skills.
In 1987, Dr. Valerie Meyer, from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Marilyn
Bodman, a local reading specialist with the Edwardsville School District and I rewrote the
Illinois Rules of the Road. Why? -- so more Illinois citizens could read the manual and pass the
Illinois Drivers Test. The objective was to rewrite the manual to an eighth grade reading level
from the twelfth grade level. The then Secretary of State, Jim Edgar, later Governor Edgar, was
alarmed by the number of Illinois citizens who were not able to pass the written portion of the
Illinois Drivers Exam.
Remediation is essential for the millions of adults in America who are not functionally literate.
Tom Brokaw’s NBC’s Dateline broadcast “A Loss for Words” on August 8, 2003, focused on
four adults, all of whom could not read or who could read very little. Each had his or her own
story of why he or she could not read. Now, mature adults, they were beginning the long and
difficult process of learning to read, made more difficult by the demands of being an adult and
the fact that learning to read is more difficult for an adult learner.
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Prevention of illiteracy, work with families and their children at an early age, can certainly mean
the prevention of pain and limitations for adults later. In addition, the joy of reading with and to a
child cannot be matched.
In 1995 I volunteered with the Book In Every Home Program, a campaign I have chaired since
1999. A Book In Every Home is a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville volunteer initiative
of faculty, students, staff, members of the community, and community businesses and
organizations such as Wood River Printing, which has donated much of our printing. The
National Hockey League Blues, with whom we are having a fundraiser at tomorrow’s game
against the Chicago Black Hawks, the National Football League Rams, who gave us funds to
help cover administrative costs and to buy books, and the Lewis and Clark Library System who
have provided us with professional assistance and support.
This year we plan to give two new books to 4,000 children ages 6 weeks through 5 years in
Madison and St. Clair counties, counties where the three campuses of SIUE are located. By
putting books in the homes of children, their families are more likely to read to them. This year
the curriculum committee made up of faculty and early childhood professionals compiled a
literacy guide for families. Over 7,000 copies have been distributed to families and teachers of
pre-school children in both Missouri and Illinois. Family literacy events are conducted prior to
each child taking home two brand new books. In some cases, these will be the only books in the
home. Since its beginning eight years ago, the Book In Every Home has placed over 40,000
donated books in the hands and homes of children and their families.
According to Sharon Darling, president and founder of the National Center for Family Literacy,
reading to young children enhances language and literacy skills and leads to improved reading
comprehension and success in school at a later age.
We also know that income is directly related to education, unless of course, you are A-Rod or
Brittany Spears.
And yet, the U.S. Department of Education research indicates the average kindergarten student
has spent more than 5,000 hours watching television --having spent more time in front of the TV
than the number of classroom hours it takes to earn the average bachelor’s degree. Although I do
watch and enjoy television, it is important that families spend more hours sharing books,
conversation, and play.
Recognizing the importance of reading at an early age and responding to research in reading, the
Governor of the State of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich is establishing the Imagination Libraries this
July 1. A book will be given to all newborns in the hospital. Each month through age 5 the child
will receive in the mail an age appropriate book or total of 60 books. The state is partnering with
the Dollywood Foundation of Tennessee and the Illinois Hospital Association.
A literate society is a rich society, rich in culture, rich in learning and very possibly safer. I
wonder if many of the men and women currently serving time in our prisons would be there if
they were not functionally illiterate. I know the cycle of illiteracy and student dropouts could be
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greatly curtailed if they were from functionally literate homes. Students are more likely to drop
out of school if their parent did. The U.S. Dept of Health and Humans Services reports the
education of the parent is the single greatest predictor of whether a child will be raised in
poverty.
Let the love of learning rule humanity,” has been put in action by Phi Kappa Phi by its funding
of 17 literacy grants in 2003. $30,000 was committed to literacy. The programs vary widely.
Activities include reading to first and second graders in a local school, giving books to
newborns, and another to babies at their six month check up, working with tutors in English as a
second language class, tutor training to work with adult learners learning basic literacy skills and
whose goal is to pass the state’s driver’s test and tutoring homeless children in basic reading
skills. The University projects partner with hospitals, libraries, local public schools and
YMCA’s.
According to Donna Schubert, national vice president and chair of the Literacy Initiative Work
Group “Members of Phi Kappa Phi have shown their love of learning, and now their generosity
of spirit is also shown as they share this love of learning with their communities. Phi Kappa Phi
and literacy are a natural fit.”
Now, to you. What can you do to share this gift, this love for learning? There are many things
you might do --become a literacy volunteer, work with the Book In Every Home committee, read
to children in a school or day care. Opportunities exist throughout the community. If you have
children, read to them daily. I am sure you do, or you will because your parents read to you and
you know what an important benefit, gift, that has been for you. Support a new reader with
encouragement, especially a new adult reader. They are attempting an awesome task. Share your
precious and essential gift, the gift of literacy.
I leave you with the words of Charles Osgood, the man who signs off on the CBS Sunday
Morning News Show by saying “I’ll see you on the radio”. On his visit to our campus in 1999
with the Arts & Issues Series, he gave the Book In Every Home Program permission to use the
following:
Man’s greatest invention is not the TV
Nor is it the radio, it seems to me
It isn’t the airplane, it isn’t the car
As wonderful as these inventions all are.
It’s not the computer or cellular phone
Or any device or machine that is known.
No nuclear weapon of war ever shook
The world like man’s greatest invention—
The book.
Thank you and again, congratulations.
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