Juana Brunilda Rodríguez teaches at the José Armando Bermúdez School, which is in an outlying urban area of Santiago, Dominican Republic. The families in that area are very poor, and they struggle every day to survive by selling items in the street, working in construction, in mechanic shops, or in domestic service jobs.   

At the beginning of the year, Juana enrolled her first grade students, trying to make sure that most of them were between 5 and 6 years old, which is the established standard.  The age standard was created to allow teachers to work with classes that have children who are all about the same age, which makes teaching easier.  On enrollment day, a woman arrived at the school accompanied by a shy, withdrawn girl whom she wanted to enroll in first grade.  Lorenny was 10 years old, so Juana suggested that Lorenny enroll in a class where she would be with children her own age.  Lorenny, who felt a special connection to Juana from the beginning, approached the teacher and with a very sad expression on her face said, "Teacher, teach me to read, because I have learning problems."  It turned out that Lorenny had already been in first grade three times, without learning how to read and write.      

Juana, who is a true teacher at heart, was touched by Lorenny's distress, and asked her how she knew that she had learning problems.  Lorenny answered that she had a twin sister, Lucía, who was in the fifth grade who could already read and write.  But she, Lorenny, had not been able go on to second grade, in spite of trying her very best.  Her other teachers had told her that she had problems, because she had not learned to read and write like her sister Lucía.

In light of the situation, Juana decided to accept Lorenny in her class.  She got Lorenny’s mother to promise that she would send Lorenny to school every day and work with her at home as much as possible.  Using the strategies that she learned from CETT, Juana worked diligently with Lorenny to teach her to read and write.  As Lorenny began to learn, Juana was surprised by how much she changed.  Lorenny became active, more sociable and lively, becoming the leader of her group of friends.  Although she hasn’t quite caught up with her twin sister, learning to read and write has changed Lorenny's life, opening a world of opportunities that, otherwise, would not have been available.

Juana has been a teacher for 19 years, nine of which worked at the José Armando Bermúdez School.  Juana says that without the CETT, she would not have been able to help Lorenny as much as she did.  In her own words, "Before CETT, I had to work much harder for my students to learn.  Sometimes we took an entire month to learn a single topic. The lessons were monotonous.  The students understood enough to repeat a chorus of syllables that they were learning, but if you put the same syllable in a different context, they couldn't read it.  Now, the students understand what they are learning, and they can recognize sounds and words in any context."

Juana's love for her work and the teaching strategies that she acquired through the CETT allowed her to make a real difference in Lorenny's life as she continues on through school.  CETT made it possible for both Juana and Lorenny to succeed.