After listening to her enthusiasm and total dedication to the students she works with, I asked Sylvia if she had "found her niche" with the John Howard Society. "Oh, yes absolutely!" she said, "I'll stay here as long as this program needs and can use my skills and talents. No matter what the pay is, basic literacy and working in the grassroots of education is where I want to be."

The Prospects Literacy Program in Edmonton is 11 years old. PAT CAMPBELL has been the coordinator of the program for 6 of those years.

Prospects has been housed in various locations around the city, but when Pat became the coordinator, "the program was across the street in a washroom!" Pat explained. "We were in Victoria Composite High School. You went up the stairs and there was a lounge area full of students who were smoking. You had to cut through the smoke to get to our door in the corner. Our room was a narrow, dingy little space with six toilets and six sinks. There was one desk and one table, a typewriter with keys missing and no books." I shook my head in disbelief and Pat said, "I was interviewed for the job in that room so I basically knew what I was getting into. I took the job because I wanted a change from the "clinical factory" I had been working in and it wasn't very long before I could see the potential of this program."

Pat brought a wealth of education and experience to her position. "I've been in three jobs. The last job I had was at the Child Development Centre. I did play therapy with children who were sexually or emotionally abused. And I was also a reading specialist there, doing the reading assessments. I travelled to Athabasca every second week. I was the specialist for the six schools there. I would go second week. I was the specialist for the six schools there. I would go to Boyle, Smith, all of those little communities, test then come home, write reports and in my spare time, do play therapy. Before that I worked in Nigeria for two years. And before that, I worked in Winnipeg as a teacher's aide in a classroom of learning disabled children." Pat was 26 years old and had a Masters degree in Reading when she was hired as the coordinator of Prospects.

Even with her background, Pat was intimidated by the expectations of her new job. "I was scared. I was a reading specialist but I was still scared because I had to run workshops, know the resources (what to 'pick and pull' and how they could be used) and deal continually with boards and the media. The only area I was really comfortable with was assessments; the rest I had to learn on the job."

Not too long after she started with Prospects, the program moved out of the Victoria Composite washroom and across the street to the Adult Learning Annex, a building owned and used by the Edmonton Public School Board. By that time, Pat was fully involved in the program. "The best part of my job was being my own boss. I was finally in a position where I was in control. There was no bureaucracy, nothing to be filled out in triplicate. I still appreciate that. I really enjoy the scope of the job; it gives you such a sense of identity."

Prospects is one of the largest programs in Alberta. Pat has a full- sized map of Edmonton up on her wall with coloured pins marking where the students and tutors live. She works with an average of 90 - 100 student/tutor pairs and tries to match the students with tutors who live in the same area of the city. Keeping tabs on all the matched pairs is too big a job for one person. "Three weeks after I was hired, I hired ANN PARRY (who has become my 'right-hand woman') as a tutor monitor. She phones the tutors once a month and the students once every second month. It's really important to keep in touch with everyone."