Evergreen Park, Ill. -- Sister Mary Ventura has been a dedicated teacher throughout all of her 60 years of life as a Dominican Sisters of Springfield. But in 1996 she embarked on an adventure that she says has been one of the most fulfilling and exciting of her long educational career. That’s when she began facilitating the Essential Learning Solutions lab at St. Bernadette School in Evergreen Park, Ill.
The lab uses a computerized learning program, developed by Creative Education Institute of Waco, Texas, to help students who struggle to learn improve their reading levels, memory, and overall educational progress. Each school day Sister Mary and two assistants work with 60 students from St. Bernadette’s and other near-by schools, keeping a busy 11-hour-a-day schedule.
“It’s the first program I’ve ever worked with that gave struggling children hope,” she said. Evidence of this hope is clear in the letters students and their parents write about the program.
“Before I came to ELS, I was getting bad grades. I was not improving my school work. ELS helped me pull up my grades,” wrote Danny. “I got A’s and B’s on my report card. I am happy.”
“I once got bad grades but ELS has helped me get good grades,” said Laura. “I got an A in Reading and an A on my science quiz.”
Anthony put it most simply: “ELS is the best thing that happened to me!”
Sister Mary intends to keep working in the lab as long as her health and stamina will allow. With a smile she said, “The dazzling smile of a student who achieves success so energizes me I may be directing this program forever.”
