Marilynn Johnson loves using her imagination to find order. She finds joy in organizing and planning, all while engaging her brain. 

“Structure and creativity,” says Johnson. “I love when those two things work together.” 

It is these two things, paired with a love of inspiring others, that drove Johnson to join SLD Read as a tutor three and a half decades ago. 

Now, 34 years later, Johnson continues to find happiness in planning lessons and assisting students. From preparing for a tutoring session, to actually teaching the lesson, Johnson loves every part of working with her students. According to her, she enjoys watching the understanding come across her students’ faces as they grasp the different parts of literacy. 

“My favorite part of being a tutor is probably when a student remembers something from the last lesson,” says Johnson. “This particular student I have was having a great deal of difficulty understanding the suffix T-I-O-N. And then, when I saw him next, the first thing he said to me was, ‘shun. T-I-O-N.’ He had remembered, and didn’t even wait for me to prompt him.” 

She continues: “I love the privilege of being able to help a person learn to read more fluently.” 

Johnson has a short background in teaching, but has spent most of her literacy career at SLD Read. Johnson has a passion for working with those who struggle with reading due to her own love of literature. 

“I read for knowledge and pleasure,” says Johnson. “I just want to give that gift to my students as well.” 

When asked what her favorite book is, Johnson explains that it has always been the 1812 children’s classic, The Swiss Family Robinson. Johnson makes parallels between the novel and working with her students. In the book, a family is deserted on an island and band together to learn their individual strengths. 

“[The family] all had gifts that they probably didn’t even know they had inside of them,” says Johnson. “My students are the same way. They’re so talented and they just need to be more aware of that.” 

Johnson wants to emphasize to her students that frustration is only a part of the learning process. She encourages her students to keep trying, even when reading gets tough. 

“Go slowly,” says Johnson. “Trust yourself. It will come to you. It will make sense. That’s why I’m here.”