Seven Who Attended Regularly

There were seven students who attended regularly; that is, they attended over fifty percent of the classes and were still attending during the last four weeks of the semester. These students were Ann, Cal, Cory, Donna, Des, Doris and Henry. I was able to interview all seven, largely because of their availability.

Ann

Background Information
Ann was a forty year old Canadian born white woman with two adult children. I interviewed her in May. She lived on her own and had attended the Main College ABE program for two years. She said that she had been recently embroiled in divorce proceedings. She had spent nine years working as a babysitter and then two years as a hotel chambermaid. Her family was pleased that she had returned to school.

After leaving school at the age of fourteen, Ann stayed at home with her older sister who "only went to grade eight too." She described her life before ABE as "shitty." As a mother she said, "My kids know [that I can't read] and he [her former husband] didn't help me because they [her children] call me dummy and stupid and my ex used to do that too." She hid her illiteracy from her ex-husband but when he found out, he "started pushing" her to return to school. She became very good friends with Cory, another woman in the Fundamental ABE class.

Attendance Information
Ann was a regular and steady ABE attender, attending well over fifty percent of the classes.