Dixie Evans’ office is surrounded by books. Just outside the door are racks of fiction novels. On the other side of a wall are classics and biographies. Around the corner is a children’s area with colorful picture books.
It is what you might expect as the setting for the Literacy Council of White County director’s work environment. For a woman whose mission is to promote literacy throughout the county, a used book store is a great place for her office.
Evans has been the director for the Literacy Council of White County since October of last year, and she said she has hit the ground running. Her passion for literacy education comes from her own daughter’s struggles with dyslexia, and Evans said she wants to make sure everyone in the county has the opportunity to read, no matter their situation.
“The more resources, tools and education you can give people, the better you’re going to build your community,” she said. “I would love one day to be out of a job.”
Evans grew up along the White River in Monroe County. In high school, she was involved in drama club, Spanish club, Beta Club and choir. After graduation, she attended Central Baptist College in Conway for a semester before she switched gears and went into the culinary arts as a baker.
While in Conway, she met her husband, Brad, and eventually moved to Searcy to be closer to him. She owned and operated Cutie Cakes, a bakery in Searcy, but had to close it after she broke her hand and was not able to work the
business properly.
Evans’ interest in literacy began when her daughter, Natalie, was diagnosed in the first grade with dyslexia.
“She was struggling and having a hard time, so we went and had an evaluation done,” Evans said. “They said she has a very high IQ, she’s very intelligent, but she’s dyslexic, and that’s why she’s struggling in school.
“Through that, I started looking for someone to help her, and there wasn’t anyone in this area who could help her. The people who did have the training worked in the schools, and she was in a private school. … I started doing research, and we came across a program called Barton Reading and Spelling System, and it was designed for parents, for teachers, for anyone to be able to pick up and help dyslexic children and adults.”
Evans decided that because there was no one who could help her daughter, she would order the Barton program and learn how to teach her daughter.
“I started working with her and started seeing such great improvement,” Evans said. “Other people started saying, ‘Hey, I see that your daughter is doing better. Would you mind working with my kid?’ That led me to becoming certified in Barton Reading and Spelling. From there, I started learning all I could about dyslexia.”
As word started getting around about how Evans was helping children, she started hearing more about what parents and children were going through to get help for dyslexia. She started working with other parents to figure out how they could help each other, and Evans was a part of the group that started the Arkansas Dyslexia Support Group, where Evans still has a seat on the board of directors.
Through her advocacy and research, Evans said, she has seen more and more adults who are probably dyslexic but were never diagnosed.
“Dyslexia is hereditary,” she said. “If one of the parents wasn’t dyslexic, you can pinpoint an uncle or a grandparent — someone in that family tree. It may not have been diagnosed; they may have just not done very well in school. … That got me to thinking about the adults who have already been failed.”
When a friend saw the opening for the director’s position at the Literacy Council of White County, she told Evans to apply. At first, Evans didn’t think she wanted to go back to work, but after talking with her husband, she decided to apply for the job.
“I’m passionate about literacy,” she said. “I think it’s important, and I’ve been working with students myself since I’ve been here. I’ve got one student who I started working with immediately after I started working here. In talking with her, I knew instantly she was dyslexic. She had already been through a literacy-council program in another town, but she had memorized the material instead of actually learning to read it. I started working with her, and she’s doing really well now.”
Evans said one of her goals with the Literacy Council of White County is to help adults who have been left behind. She still works with children, but she said she sees a real need with the adults of the county who have been told their whole life they just weren’t smart enough, when in reality, they had an undiagnosed learning disability that she can help them overcome.
The Literacy Council of White County does not just focus on dyslexia, although that is what Evans is most familiar with because of her daughter’s dyslexia. The nonprofit offers adult basic literacy, English as a second language and pre-GED classes, and Evans hopes to add more in the future.
“There are some people who are nervous or scared when they come here, but there’s nothing to be ashamed about. We’re here to help people,” she said. “Nobody starts out intentionally not wanting to learn. Over time, people may have a dislike for learning
that is built and cultivated because if you fail so much, you start to hate it. … I try to tell the adults that come in that they’re not stupid, and it’s not their fault. We can fix it. We can do this.”
The Literacy Council of White County operates out of Second Time Around Bookstore at 811 S. Main St., Suite D, in Searcy. Evans said the nonprofit is always looking for tutors, volunteers to help in the bookstore, donated books and monetary donations.
For more information about the Literacy Council of White County, visit www.whitecountyliteracy.org or call (501) 278-5500.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or a spencer@arkansasonline.com.