Seventy-year-old man fulfills life-long desire to learn how to read. 


ST. JOSEPH , MISSOURI UNITED STATES (RECENT) (NBC)

Students at Edison Elementary School in St. Joseph, Missouri  school
can't stop talking about their new 70-year-old classmate  Alferd Williams.
Williams is drawing attention because he is fulfilling a life-long goal of
learning how to read.
    Williams never learned to read in his youth so, at 70,  decided to
enroll in the first grade.  Students in his class enjoy talking and working
with their much older classmate.  One student said, "He is really smart
and he really helps me a lot." 
    Williams earned a living for his family working in the fields and he
never had the opportunity to attend school. He said he promised his mother
that he would one day learn to read. His teacher Mrs. Hamilton is happy with
his progress. Previously Williams would walk each row in the grocery store
looking for the items he needed. Reading has shown him he can read the signs
above to locate items without walking every aisle.
     Williams now lives  in a friend's laundry room.  Edison Elementary
School  has set up a fund to help Williams financially.