A
e l t t Li
Goes a
LONG WAY!
— by Carly Mathews
It was only supposed to be “a couple of kids and a little something to do.” At least, that was what her husband thought at the time. That “little something” has grown into Bonnie Nicks’ The Learning Center, an educational resource that specializes in providing research-based tutoring to remediate the reading, writing, and spelling weaknesses experienced by students with dyslexia. Bonnie, a Southern Kentucky resident for the past 32 years, has always been passionate about working with children. For 10 years, she worked with the Kentucky School for the Deaf as a speech therapist and then continued to work in the Bowling Green City Schools for 20 years before her retirement. However, her true inspiration for The Learning Center came through her son, who struggles with an auditory processing difference and dyslexia. “Through self-education and my journey with my son, I began to recognize that many of my speech students struggled with the same issues and were falling through the cracks,” Bonnie says about the moment she realized what her next step may be. “I would periodically state that one day I would love to have a practice that worked specifically with students with auditory processing disorders,” she adds. A short time later, The Learning Center was born. In the past ten years, what was supposed to be a small project and something Bonnie did during her retirement has grown to serve 92 families and provide over 220 tutoring sessions per week. The sheer volume by which her center has grown is one of the difficulties for Bonnie, as logistics were never a part of her previous education; however, she manages with her love of learning and education to motivate herself. Additionally, it is the impact that Bonnie is able to have on her students that truly helps her stay motivated and reminds her of why she began this in the first place. “It is nothing unusual to have parents stopping in our office telling us we have changed their child’s life or have saved their family and that they can’t thank us enough; this is something that NEVER gets old,” says Bonnie, smiling and reminiscing about past students and successes. “It is as rewarding every time it happens as it was the very first time it happened,” she adds. Despite being viewed as the hero to the kids, Bonnie argues that it’s more that the children she teaches are her heroes and her legacy. “Even though I was a good speech therapist, I didn’t really believe I was leaving a legacy,” says Bonnie. “These children, however, are permitting me beyond any shadow of a doubt to leave one.” The work Bonnie has done with the children in Southern Kentucky definitely will continue, as her “little something to do” grows and grows.
•••••••••• Around here normal is just a setting on the dryer
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