130-plus Literacy Volunteers Help Adult Learners At Mcc

When Didia Barajal returned to school after 15 years, with only a junior high education from Mexico, she enrolled in McHenry County College’s Adult Education Program to earn her high school equivalency, also known as a GED. “I didn’t have an opportunity to go to college when I was younger, but I wanted to be a good role model for my kids,” said Barajal, 35, a machine operator who lives in Harvard. College now is an option for the single, divorced mother of two teenagers, ages 16 and 13, because she earned her GED two years ago. Studying for the math portion of the exam was particularly difficult because of the language barrier, but she worked eight months with volunteer literacy tutor Susan Levels of Cary, who helped her learn and made her confidence soar. “Taking a class not in your language is difficult,” Barajal said.