Vicki Fink

Vicki Fink's introduction to the Laubach method for teaching adults to read came during the 1984-85 school year when she taught a 20 year old student with cerebral palsy in her exceptional children's class. The student told Fink that his greatest desire was to learn to read, yet she knew that other teachers had tried most every method for teaching him to read without success.

Determined to help her student achieve his goal, Fink attended a Laubach tutor training workshop and used this method with her student throughout the school year. The student progressed, and for the next two years she continued the tutoring as a volunteer. When she moved from the area in 1987, another tutor took her place.

In August 1994 Fink came to Monroe when her husband accepted the pastorate of St. Luke's Lutheran Church. Still interested in literacy issues, she helped organize a Laubach tutor training workshop for Union County residents in January 1996. Since that time she has volunteered to tutor four adult students, her most recent since March 1998.

As an Exceptional Children's teacher at East Union Middle School, Fink teaches communications skills, math, social studies, and science. Although she was honored as Union County's Teacher of the Year for 1998-1999 and went on to become a semi-finalist in the regional competition, Fink is quick to stress that Laubach materials are designed to be used by anyone who can read.

Moreover, Fink stated that she is motivated by Laubach's 'Each One Teach One' philosophy. "Anyone with reading skills and a willingness to devote several hours a week to this program can use this easy-to-follow method," says Fink who stresses that she, too, had to be trained to use the Laubach materials. "It's the ability to read that is primary," she said. "Anyone can do this."