Betty Pearson volunteers to tutor several students for the Shawano County Literacy Council.
She was born in Wauwatosa, graduating from Wauwatosa East High School. She earned a degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in speech communication and a master’s degree in urban education. Pearson taught in a residential treatment center, Milwaukee Area Technical College and UW-Washington County. She was executive director of the West Bend Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation for 17 years.
Pearson and her husband of 39 years, Al, both retired in 2001.
They have two children and two grandchildren. They live five months in De Pere and seven months at their home on the Embarrass River. The couple likes to entertain, travel, read,and work in their flower and vegetable gardens.
Pearson scheduled volunteers for the Green Bay Botanical Garden, where she still volunteers. She also did volunteer work with the Green Bay Economic Development Corporation.
Q How did you get started tutoring?
A “I trained at the Green Bay Literacy Council for indoctrination and familiarization. I completed that in April this year. Before I completed training I called Shawano and said I would like to tutor and would they keep me in mind. I began meeting with people, and after two weeks a lady with four students needed time off. I said yes that would be perfect. I really like it.”
Q What is the process in tutoring?
A “I’ve been coming to the library every Monday since May. Sometimes I have one student and sometimes I have five. I do my own curriculum. There are lots of resources for us to adapt to our class. Obviously they have to know the alphabet, sounds and word meanings. That’s what we emphasize. My students are from Mexico and El Salvador, both men and women. I give little tests. We begin each day with students telling me something in two or three sentences. I must say something in Spanish. The joy of working with people from other countries is finding the commonalities.”
Q How important is it for them to learn English?
A “Because they live and work here and they need to understand the language for communication purposes. My only frustration would be of myself. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me because the students are so eager to learn and they really try hard. It’s really nice to have people who are so motivated. It is hard to understand our complex language.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “I needed to find something where I was giving some of the things I’ve been fortunate to have, like education. In retirement I have the time. I always believed that we all need to give back. In this country we have been very blessed. Whatever anyone chooses to do they need to give back.”
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