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Success Story Contest Winners

2007 Fast ForWord National Circle of Learning Success Story Contest winners and their stories.

  • Contest Winner: Sarah Keating Stephen Terrell
    • Student Name: Stephen Terrell
    • Student Age: 8
    • Grade Level: 2nd
    "Stephen is an 8 year old 2nd grade student who entered school as a kindergartener with very involved speech problems. He was nearly impossible to understand and still has articulation problems, but he is able to be understood now."
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    "Stephen has shown so much progress this school year. He has shown great gains in his reading and writing ability. I feel that a great deal of Stephen's progress can be attributed to Fast ForWord. Between September 2006, and May 2007, Stephen's reading level increased from .8 to 5.0 while working on five Fast ForWord products."

    "This child has had such dramatic improvement this year that he is now one of the top readers in the room. I feel he has benefited from Fast ForWord in that it has helped him develop his reading using a sight word approach. It has been amazing to see him grow in reading throughout the year."

  • Contest Winner: Mattie Riley Hayes Jameka Branch
    • Student Name: Jameka Branch
    • Student Age: 10
    • Grade Level: 3rd
    "Jameka has blossomed into a confident reader, conscientious thinker, independent writer, and positive role model and leader to other students. We attribute these new and outstanding characteristics to the progress that Jameka has made in the Fast ForWord program."
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    "Since her participation in Fast ForWord this year, Jameka's parents have noticed an enthusiasm and motivation towards reading that supersedes last year's shy and timid child who was not secure about her reading ability."

    "Jameka is a model student in the classroom and I am privileged to have the opportunity to teach her in the Fast ForWord program. Her reading fluency increased by 29 points since the beginning of the school year which moves her from strategic to benchmark reading level. Fast ForWord has allowed Jameka to leap forward in her ability to read, write and comprehend."

  • Contest Winner: Debra Gilbert Ibukun Baiyewu
    • Student Name: Ibukun Baiyewu (IBK)
    • Student Age: 18
    • Grade Level: 11th
    "Ibukun Baiyewu likes to be called IBK because he tells everyone that you could not pronounce his name. IBK is 18, in the 11th grade, and is 3 grade levels below in reading. IBK came from Nigeria to go to an international boarding school in Florida."
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    "When IBK first started using Fast ForWord he complained about headaches and said that Fast ForWord is boring. As IBK's Fast ForWord coach I knew he needed motivation to help him stay focused. IBK found that he enjoyed beating his own, as well as others students' scores."

    "He still could not see the benefits of coming into the lab everyday hearing the same sounds, and the same stories, and as he stated, 'How is this going to help me become a better reader?'"

    "Now that IBK has seen the results...he is glad he did Fast ForWord. IBK said 'I did not think that this would help me in reading, but it did. I'm now at college-level reading.' As his reading teacher I can see how proud he is and he has more confidence in achieving his goals."

  • Contest Winner: Lila Macaluso Amanda Schneider
    • Student Name: Amanda Schneider
    • Student Age: 11
    • Grade Level: 4th
    "Amanda was administered a battery of tests prior to enrollment in Fast ForWord which confirmed that she was significantly below her peers in language and reading skills. Clearly, here was a child that needed immediate intervention."
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    "We began Fast ForWord Language after 21 days then switched to Language to Reading. She completed these two programs in 16 weeks and then continued her training with the Fast ForWord to Reading series."

    "During breaks she and I would read together from popular children's books, taking turns reading a page at a time. This became one of our favorite activities and a special time to bond as I watched her mastery of decoding unfamiliar words develop and flourish."

    "At this writing, Amanda has successfully completed Fast ForWord to Reading 4 and is more than ready to tackle fifth grade curriculum in the fall. Her teachers and parents report a marked change in her attitude toward reading and learning. And her grades are steadily improving."

  • Contest Winner: Sheila Thompkins Kathy Theiss
    • Student Name: Kathy Theiss
    • Student Age: 10
    • Student Grade Level: 3rd
    "Kathy Theiss had always been home-schooled. When Kathy entered in August 2006 she had never been to school before. Kathy was placed in fourth grade. Kathy couldn't do fourth grade work. Kathy could barely do third grade work."
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    "She used to walk around school and stare into space. Kathy seemed very quiet and didn't talk to anyone, even if they were talking to her."

    "Kathy has completed both Language products without any intervention flags. She is now enrolled in Reading 2. Kathy has made major improvements in her class academically and socially. Her mother stated that she is able to complete homework now because she couldn't do that at the beginning of the school year."

    "Fast ForWord has changed Kathy tremendously. Her teachers and guidance counselor decided not to have her placed in ESE because she is doing so well in and out of the classroom. Fast ForWord has made a major impact on Kathy's life. She has been my inspiration this school year."