SCHOOL PROGRAM INFORMATION
"He was the best speaker I have ever heard in my life!"
-- Teacher, St. Patrick’s of Heatherdowns, Maumee, Ohio
Over the last eleven years, teachers and parents have asked me if my story was written somewhere for them to read and share with others. I have written this section of my web site not as a marketing tool for new shows, but really to fulfill the request of so many people wanting to know more about my inspirational story. It’s not a book, but it is more in depth than I can share within the framework of an assembly. My purpose for doing shows from the very beginning has been to share my story as a way to encourage others to keep trying. It is my belief that being LD just means a person "learns differently". I hope by putting myself out here for everyone to read, that a parent/teacher will be inspired and find new energy to keep on fighting for all those kids that need extra help. The ones just like me!
I realized early in life that I would have to work hard just to make it to a regular classroom. Struggling with Dyslexia, I spent my first five years of school in a "special education" classroom. I worked with Ms. Bamer as my LD Teacher and also had a speech therapist. After my first grade year, I had a tutor, Nancy Nelson, over the summer to determine my weaknesses and my readiness for second grade. Below is a summary of the tests Nancy administered to me and what she had written my mom.
(Matching Alphabet test): He did well in alphabet matching, but confused the letters b and d. This test was to see if he could match capital letters and small letters by sight only. It did not deal with sounds or names of the letters.
(Alphabet review test): As you know, when Jimmy came to me in June of 1972, he did not know the alphabet. When reciting it, he’d not only mix letters up, but he’d omit many of the letters. Jimmy was caught up in memorizing these 26 letters thus giving him a problem in knowing the letters and their sounds. This is also why he has problems in reading. I have been trying to strip him from memorization and taking the letters and sounds in a mixed-up way and not in chronological order. For example: instead of starting with A is for apple (etc.) we have worked on the letters m,s,d,g.t.f and h. He still at this time does not comprehend H. For example, if I give him the sound for h and ask him what letter it is, Jimmy will reply: (on his fingers)....counting the alphabet from A to H...and sometimes forgetting the name for the letter H or how to make the H sign. He is quite confused in this memorization problem.
(Recognition of Sounds): In this test, I mixed up the 26 letters and recited a sound of a letter for him. He in turn would write down the sound he heard. Though he did well on this test, he still was in a state of guessing and memorization. He does not comprehend the vowels. He confuses the g and j; s and c; the f and v; the b and d...and has trouble with u, v, w, y and z.
(Recognition of Word beginnings): With this test, I gave him a word and he would write the letters of the first sound he heard. It is the same type of test as the test above except I used a word and not just a letter. The vowel problem comes out more in this test.
(Rhyming Words): Jimmy was on his own in this test. I did not recite any words to him thus making this test like his first test....that of sight recognition. What he was to do was to circle the word that did not have the same ending as the other two words that were alike. He did fine on this sight test...but as for reading the words he had a great deal of difficulty. These are first grade vocabulary words. His difficulty in reading was due to him confusing sounds and letters.
(Word Recognition): This is a good reading readiness test for Jimmy. He was given three words and I recite only one word. From the sounds I give, he chooses what he hears. He did fine, but if you look at the word BALL...he circled the word DOLL...this is because of confusing b and d and not comprehending vowel sounds. He really thought he circled ball.
(Sequence Alphabet): This test requires Jimmy to write the next letter in the alphabet. It took him 10 minutes to do this test. From this test, it will tire him out to start from the letter ‘A’ to find out what follows the letter T. He still does not know the alphabet in the correct way...meaning sounds in relationship to letters or letters in relationship to order.
(Spelling): I arrange the spelling in three groups. The first 8 words are words Jimmy is familiar with already. His only error here is with the word ‘bat’, which he spelled as ‘dat’. The second group was of six words were use in our daily drills. His confusion of vowels is apparent with this group of words. The last group is words we have used, but contain letters Jimmy has a hard time comprehending their sounds. Some examples of miss spelled words are "bib" for "baby and "ad" for "egg".
(Evaluation): Jimmy is a willing and co-operative learner. His confusion with the alphabet leads him to other problems, though:
- The alphabet itself he has memorized
- He counts the alphabet on his fingers as a child would count to ten on his fingers.
- He confuses the sounds with the letters.
- He does not know the names of all the letters.
- The alphabet problem leads him to trouble with his speech, reading, English and other related problems.
Jimmy will have trouble doing second grade work and is behind in his understanding of first grade work.
My mom and dad reviewed the report and talked with the school, but my dad pretty much refused to have me held back. I would be promoted to second grade, but I would have Ms. Bamer as my primary teacher. Our room was a regular size room with Ms. Bamer’s desk in the middle of the room. All of our desk had three sides to them and were placed around the outside walls of the class. We had a carpet area and a sand box to work on spelling. I would also have fifth graders read with me in the hallways. I continued to improve, but at a lower rate then my peers. I would get promoted every year to a new grade and get a home room teacher, but I would still spend most of my time with Ms. Bamer. I was with my regular class for music, art, gym, lunch and recess.
During this time I was an easy target for other kids to pick on me. My parents had my head shaved and I was overweight. One of the favorite things kids would say to me was "Wish I had a Watermelon." I would get frustrated and found myself getting into some fights. Overall, I was a very compliant and nice kid, but I did find myself in the principal’s office more than I would have liked to. I was primarily reacting negatively to the other kids picking on me. My struggles continued and even Ms. Bamer would get frustrated with my Dyslexia. In fifth grade, she wrote my mom and said that my oral reading was poor and suggested that if I was struggling with a word, to read it backwards so that I might comprehend it the right way. She also said my comprehension seemed fine when I read silently. Towards the end of fifth grade, Ms. Bamer suggested that I start to spend more time in my regular class to get ready for the middle school. I would start with math and spelling. Math was one area in which I was doing pretty well. Because of my great memory and willingness to study, I did quite well on spelling "tests". I would memorize the list and almost always get a perfect score even though I couldn’t spell while writing.
In middle school, I was assigned to Mr. Lawson’s class. For the first time I would start a year in a regular class. I was excited, but I still felt insecure and I worried about how the other students would treat me. That year, I was given a tutor for two hours a day. Mrs. Broadhurst was my tutor and we met in a very small narrow room off the library. She would help with flash cards, read tests, and help me catch up on areas I was behind in. It was a little confusing for Mrs. Broadhust to have someone for that length of time and she wrote on the back of my grade card..."Am I suppose to help Jim with the material he has in class or teach him the material he is missing when he is with me?" She decided to help me with the material I had in class and so I wasn’t accountable for the material I missed. This would later cause problems due to not knowing things I should have learned.
Math was my strength, but sometimes it is hard to notice one’s strength when they have so many other problems. I didn’t know the months or the number of days in each month and had trouble reading. In middle school, the math started having more story problems that used dates and times. This would make it appear as if I had trouble in math as well, but the math wasn’t the problem, reading the story was the problem. As much trouble I had with reading, writing and English, it is understandable that my strength in math was missed. I was placed in a math class that would take two years to cover what was normally covered in one. This would put me behind in math all the way through high school.
Socially, in middle school things actually got a little easier, primarily because of girls. No, the girls didn’t like me, but they did divert the attention of the other boys from me to them. It was a good relief, but I was still struggling with being accepted and being seen as a regular kid. One way I decided that I could get positive attention is to go out for the school talent show. My family considered me to be uncoordinated and without rhythm and, to be honest, they were correct. I really couldn’t hear tones well and didn’t have any natural rhythm. However, I did learn to spin a basketball in sixth grade. My brother, Mike, knew how to spin a ball and could do some tricks. Every time my dad had business people over, he would have Mike spin basketballs for them. At an NBA game, my sisters, Mike and I each got a basketball as a door prize. I remember all four of us trying to spin the ball in the family room for hours. It took months, but I learned how to keep the ball balanced on my finger. That was the only talent I could think of for the Troy Jr. High Talent Show. My first show ever was in seventh grade and I spun one ball and did some simple ball handling drills. I enjoyed the attention I received from spinning a basketball, so I continued to practice. In 8th grade, I spun two balls and in 9th grade I would attempt to spin three balls for the talent show. Middle school in Avon Lake went through 9th grade at that time. Over summer from my 9th to 10th grade year I attended a basketball camp in Wooster, Ohio. One night the camp held a talent show to keep the campers busy before lights out. I did my talent show routine and everyone was impressed. The next day a world famous ball handler, "Crazy" George Schuaer, was scheduled to appear at the camp. The camp director asked if I would show George my stuff. George was so impressed that he invited me to come and perform with him at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ games.
By high school, I was no longer being tutored, but still had numerous "special" classes. One of these classes was called "Reading in the Real World" and was taught by Mrs. Irene Schuster. This was the class that changed everything for me regarding reading. It was my senior year and time was running out for me to improve my reading before graduation. Mrs. Schuster broke down reading by the number of words read per minute; even more specifically, to how many eye movements or "eye fixations" per line of text. This was a new way of looking at reading that allowed me to set numeric goals and monitor my own progress. It also enabled Mrs. Schuster to discover some of my poor reading strategies, some of which were strategies learned in elementary school. Mrs. Schuster helped me realize I needed to look at more than one word at a time and I shouldn’t go back to reread a sentence every time I didn’t know a word. I started that class reading only 86 words per minute, which would be around the second grade reading level. I had the slowest reading rate in the class by far. Up to that point in high school, my mom would read me my homework to help me keep up with my classes. The students in Mrs. Schuster’s class would perform countless timed readings and record their progress. The timed readings would be performed while the book was under a machine that would move a light down the page slightly above the reader’s normal reading rate. This would help each student keep pace and push them to go faster. It worked well for me. By the end of the class I was reading nearly 160 words per minute. The class then went one step further by teaching study methods. These study methods would make a world of difference for me when I would go off to college.
My high school classes were pretty basic. I didn’t take literature, composition, or any science past biology and no foreign language. The one college prep class I did take was accounting. I did well in my classes and worked hard to carry a 3.2 grade point average. I felt good about my grades and was excited to find out I met the school’s qualifications for National Honor Society. I found out quickly from the guidance counselor though, that I didn’t take the "real classes" that would justify me being in National Honor Society. I would not forget this injustice and would use it as motivation to excel in college.
During my high school years it was hard for me not to feel different from the other kids. They still called me Jimmy and certain unpleasant nicknames from elementary school would rear their ugly head as well. It was a tough time emotionally for me to try to fit in and see myself as a regular student, even though I had been officially out of the LD program as of tenth grade. I still saw the other kids as being smarter than myself and I lacked self confidence academically, even with my high grade point average. I would find myself driving to Redwood Elementary School late at night to dunk a basketball on the eight foot high rims. The nets were chain link and I enjoyed the sound of the metal. I would shine my car headlights on the rim and just pound out my frustrations on those eight foot rims. I felt like a lot of other high school kids who just want to be wanted. It was at this time my neighbor, Nancy Sobol, came over to ask me if I would help kids swim at Our Lady of the Wayside group home. It was a home for the handicapped. I soon found out how lucky and fortunate I was and that there were kids much worse off than me. I had finally found a place where I felt valued and that gave me unconditional love. It was a beginning of many visits to Our Lady of the Wayside and the nursing home across the street. I would go and entertain them with my juggling and basketball spinning. They would laugh and be inspired. Seeing people being affected positively by me started replacing the emptiness I had always experienced because of feeling so different. I recruited other kids to come join me. Some would sing, play the piano and others would juggle with me. It became a little show, but most importantly, it was a way for me to show my love for others.
My summer work in high school would be working with kids at the Green Box located at each elementary school’s playground. The Green Box was the name for the summer craft program put on by the local recreation department. I would teach kids to play basketball and juggle, and also play games and do crafts with them. I was the only male in the program, so I would be shipped off to any Green Box that was having trouble with teenagers. I would learn quickly how to engage these kids in constructive play and challenge them to learn to juggle. From my experiences at the Green Box, Our Lady of the Wayside and nursing homes, I learned that I loved working with people.
To make my high school years even more difficult, my parents divorced my sophomore year and my dad’s company went bankrupt. My dad moved out of state and my mom had more things to worry about than just my education. She would still find time in her busy schedule to read to me when I couldn’t keep up in a class. She would also fill out every college admission, student financial aid and government grant form that I needed for me to attend college. She was the rock that I found I could always lean on when I needed help. I took the ACT and didn’t do that bad. My composite score was 17, which was pulled up greatly by my 25 in Math. My English score was only 10, which meant that 90% of the kids taking the ACT did better than I did. My Natural Science score wasn’t much better at 14, but my Social Studies helped with a 19. My school of choice was Bowling Green State University, but my ACT score put me in the bottom quarter of entering freshman. I was accepted by Bowling Green State University based on my high school class rank and grade point average. It didn’t matter how I got in, I got in and was heading off to college!
Towards the end of my senior year my mom wanted to look up Ms. Bamer and send her a letter telling her how well I had done in high school. She had since gotten married, but my mom found her and wrote a nice letter and sent my senior picture with it. One of my favorite things I received from my high school graduation was a letter back from Ms. Bamer (now Mrs. Day). She wrote, "Great to hear from you. You have grown to be a handsome young man. I remember you so well and I am proud of all your accomplishments...I hope I don’t offend you, but it is so hard for me to believe what you accomplished because you struggled so much in elementary school. I will frame your mom’s letter and your senior picture and read it to my class at the beginning of each year."
Going off to college scared me. I was intimidated by almost every aspect of college at the beginning. My first class would be on the seventh floor of the library. Even going into a library was scary, primarily because I had no clue how they worked. I worked my way to the seventh floor for my first college class, English 110. This was my worst subject and to make it worse, I had to pass this class to stay at Bowling Green. The Graduate Assistant teaching the class began to explain how half of us would not pass the course. The teacher continued the doom and gloom of passing the class for a whole hour while I calculated in my head, that if those numbers were true I didn’t have a chance of passing. I reached for my book bag to just leave and give up, but didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the other students. I put my book bag down and figured I could give college at least an hour before quitting. I knew that no one had expected me to go to college and no one would even bat an eye if I failed, excluding my mom. At the end of the class, the teacher explained that the University had a writing lab in Hayes Hall for people that wanted extra help. If a student needed help beyond the lab, he would be glad to help as well. I decided that if people were willing to help me, I could at least accept their help and see how it turned out.
I stayed in school and started receiving an "F" on every paper. I would continue to go to the writing lab and ask my teacher for help. I just didn’t have any experience in writing. Not only was my spelling poor, I really didn’t have a clear understanding of grammar. So much of my education to this point was to help me with my reading problem and not on grammar. I knew if I would somehow pass the proficiency for English 110, I would still have to deal with English 112. Fear started to mount as the semester came to the end and I had not written a passing paper. My only chance to pass the class was to somehow pass the proficiency. It was time to write in a little blue book for over an hour and see what happened. My other three classes were going well and the only possible problem in my first semester would be English 110. Back at home with my mom, we opened the grade card together and both cried. I did it! I passed English 110 and had received all A’s in my other classes. I had made it through the first semester and only had seven more to go.
The second semester, freshman had to take English 112, which was for a letter grade versus English 110 which was just pass / fail. Again I went back to Hayes Hall to the writing lab, but I was still failing every writing assignment. I would find solitude in the recreation center practicing my juggling and basketball spinning. Then one day, I made a friend with another guy by juggling. We would practice tossing juggling clubs back and forth while talking. That’s when I found out that my juggling buddy was working on his graduate degree in English. He was Chinese but was studying English to return to China to teach English. I was used to asking for help so I just asked my buddy from China to help me learn to write English. As we juggled, I would learn what was expected from me in English 112 and how to write a five paragraph paper. Still going into the proficiency, I had not passed one weekly writing assignment. So once again my only chance was to pass the proficiency. It was another anxious time for my mom and me when we received my next set of grades. When we opened the grade card, to both of our surprise we saw a wonderful, awesome grade of a "C". I did it again! I had made it through the first year of college and most importantly was finished with English.
I had three more years at Bowling Green, but most of the subjects would be in business and more number based than words. This would make things easier for me. I would try to take classes pass/fail that were not my forte so that I could have more time to study for my business courses. I had found a rhythm for studying. The way my peers now regarded me as the "Smart Kid" fueled my drive to always work hard studying. I would leave in the morning for a class and not return to my room until the last session ended. In between classes, I would go to lounges in girl’s dorms to study. I knew I could study there without getting bothered by others. The study habits learned from Mrs. Schuster’s class were really paying off now. I had a study routine that reduced the anxiety of "never being done studying" that most people experience in college. I would attend every class no matter how cold or windy it was that day. I sat in front or near the front of the class, took detailed notes and participated in class discussion. Realizing what the professor made look easy in class would be difficult later when I tried to apply it, I figured I better try my hardest to learn the material in class. I would at least preview the chapter before class if not read it. All Math assignments would be done before class so I could find out what I was doing wrong. I knew I couldn’t learn from my mistakes if I didn’t take the time to make the mistakes beforehand. This allowed me to learn more in class and helped me keep up with the rapid pace of college. Each week I would read every chapter that was assigned for that week. It would be impossible to read all the chapters at once for the final. My reading rate was approximately 160 words. I could only read about 10 pages per hour of a college text book. This would mean I would have to budget roughly four hours per chapter per class for reading. That meant I would schedule and plan for 20 hours of studying per week. Most of the weeks, I was able to beat the clock and save time. Each chapter was highlighted in orange highlighter which made the text jump out on the page for me. I would reread the highlighted portions up to five times before the test. Each time I could get through it faster so that eventually the shade of the highlight and the bold face word would be enough for me to see and know what it meant. I would take out my notes from class and reread them at least three times before the test. On test day, my routine was to go over material one more time, juggle in front of a mirror with three rubber balls, open my top drawer and throw the balls in and slam the drawer shut. I would grab my book bag and walk briskly to the test. As the test was handed to me I would say to myself, "How dare you test me! It’s my time to show off." Even with a slow reading rate, I was able to finish most tests before others. I had reviewed and reread so much, I could tell you what page the answer was on and the shape of the highlight. Most tests would come back with scores over 100 when the curve would be factored in. The BGSU grading scale was A, B, C, D and F, without pluses or minuses, which made life easier for me. I could accumulate high exam scores during the semester and relax during finals needing above 50% to keep an A.
During my four years at BGSU I achieved the following honors:
- Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honorary
- Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary -- Top 5 % of Class
- Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
- Dean’s List -- 6 times
- Outstanding Finance Student Award
- Wall Street Journal Award -- One of the Country’s Best Business Students; name listed in The Wall Street Journal
I received five job offers before I graduated and decided to pursue a career in finance. I eventually took a new job in Columbus, Ohio, that allowed me to obtain an MBA from The Ohio State University. I continued to work in the corporate world until my late twenties. I eventually realized that my greatest gifts were working with people and found myself being driven back to performing. It all started with my daughter’s kindergarten class when her teacher asked me to come in and juggle for the kids. It wasn’t long before I sent out letters to other local schools and finally, Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Port Clinton, Ohio, called to book my assembly program. Sister Rita Kramer was so impressed with my presentation and my willingness to share my story, that she emailed eighty other Catholic schools about me. She told me, "Jim, this is what you are meant to do. The Lord is working his magic through you."
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