James A. Suydam
c/o Scottish Rite Learning Center of Corpus Christi
P.O. Box 366
Corpus Christi, Texas 78403

Photo: Bro. Albert L. Story, 32°, K.C.C.H. (l.), President of the Scottish Rite Learning Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, congratulates Misty Peterson, one of the center's first five graduates, while Ill. Obie L. Etheridge, 33°, Secretary–Treasurer of the center, holds Misty's framed certificate of accomplishment. 

After two years and more than 350 hours spent in a classroom after school, Club Estates Elementary fifth-grader Misty Peterson is confident in her ability to read. "I make 90s now," she said, beaming.

Recently, Peterson and four other children were honored as the first graduating class of the remedial reading program offered by Scottish Rite Learning Center of Corpus Christi, Texas. The free two-year program is for third- and fourth-graders who have dyslexia, which causes people to have trouble recognizing words and mentally decoding them.

During the graduation ceremony, the five students were given certificates of accomplishment and heard words of encouragement from Bro. Albert L. Story, 32°, K.C.C.H., President of Scottish Rite Learning Center, located at Del Mar College.

Before she enrolled, things weren't so easy. "I was frustrated," Misty said.

Misty's grandmother, Norma Olds, said Misty was more than frustrated. "One day, she came to me with tears in her eyes," Olds said, choking back tears of her own, "and said, ‘Grandma, why can't I read?’"

At the school, Misty learned why, and how she could work through her problem. Dyslexia is characterized by poor reading ability and difficulty with spelling. The Corpus Christi Clinic's classes are based on videotapes developed by the Child Development Center, a division of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.

Darrell Thompson, Kara's father, credited the program with his daughter's academic turnaround. "Before, she was failing. Now, she's on the honor roll," Thompson said. Kara, a fourth-grader at Wilson Elementary School, said she was scared at first but encouraged by her success. "They taught me how to code words, and once I could do that, I could understand them," she said, explaining the phonics-based program.

The program's organizers have dedicated the center to Bro. Malcolm Alexander, 33°, a South Texas Mason who died in January 23, 1996. Alexander, who was an accountant, had worked with youth groups and promoted the idea of establishing a center for dyslexics in Corpus Christi.

Ill. Obie L. Etheridge, 33°, Secretary–Treasurer for the program, said two teachers are the only paid staff, but his wife, Gladys, a retired Corpus Christi Independent School District teacher, volunteers her time. 

This article is reprinted, with Scottish Rite Degrees and full names added, from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, May 23, 1998.