Carol Marshall

Patience, flexibility and compassion are essential skills for

literacy volunteers, said Marcia Tungate, programs administrator for

READ Orange County.

And volunteer Carol Marshall embodies all of the above, Tungate

said.

Marshall has been working with the adult literacy program since

1995, when she heard about it from a friend at church.

“I thought: ‘That sounds like something I could do,’” Marshall

said.

Marshall has worked with seven different students in three out of

the four programs READ offers -- the general adult program, the

families component and English as a Second Language, which focuses

mainly on conversation.

“She’s wonderful,” Tungate said. “She’s amazingly reliable and, in

addition to working with students, whenever we put a call out for

volunteers to help with recruitment or activities, she’s always the

first one there.”

Marshall had to go through a 23-hour training service before

starting to volunteer and takes two required, additional workshops a

year to enhance her skills.

She usually meets with her students for an hour a week. Currently,

she meets with them at the Fountain Valley Library and the Costa Mesa

branch library on Park Avenue.

She said she enjoys working with students of varying cultures.

“I get to know them pretty well -- their lives and their family,”

Marshall said.

Her experience as a literacy volunteer inspired her to get a

teaching credential, which she is working on at Cal State Long Beach.

“I just enjoy giving,” Marshall said. “It’s fun and it’s a neat

learning experience and I learn a lot myself.”

-- Deirdre Newman