Adult Learner - At 71, Leaving a Legacy in Literacy

At 71, Leaving a Legacy in LiteracyAlferd Williams receives special reading award
St JoesNews.net: March 19, 2009 by Alonzo Weston
Alferd Williams told the crowd that no matter how old, everyone has some “kid” in them.

Being 71 and surrounded by third-graders can make anyone feel that way. For Mr. Williams, a sharecropper’s son, it’s about fulfilling a promise to his mother that one day he would learn to read.

“I don’t have a mother living and I don’t have a father living, so it’s up to me how long I go to school and how well I learn,” Mr. Williams told all 340 Edison Elementary School students gathered in the school gym Wednesday morning. “And that’s going to be the rest of my life.”

At age 68, Mr. Williams approached Edison first-grade teacher Alesia Hamilton and asked her to teach him to read. The two received much national attention, including being on the Oprah Winfrey show and in People magazine.

Members of the national, UPS and Marines Toys For Tots Literacy Program honored Mr. Williams with a special award Wednesday at the school. Clad in jeans festooned with Fat Albert characters and a white T-shirt, Mr. Williams, now an Edison third-grader, received the first-ever “Alferd Williams Literacy Award.”

“Forever and ever, it’s going to be an award named in his honor,” said Sharon Darling, president and founder of the national Center for Family Literacy. “What we have to realize as a nation is there are 34 million adults in this country at the level Alferd was when he came into this school, and we really must do more to help them. Alferd will be a great spokesperson.”

Mrs. Hamilton also received the award.

“I represent every teacher at Edison School. I represent every teacher everywhere. This is what we do,” Mrs. Hamilton told the packed gymnasium. “And thanks, Alferd, for just letting the world know how important teachers are.”

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