Senger Roofing LLC is one of the many community businesses that has been sponsoring Skyline Literacy for years.
However, for father-son owners Harvey and Mark Senger, the choice to support Skyline is deeply personal.
Growing up, Harvey Senger and his sisters were very close in age. In order to keep the siblings from being in the same classes, Mr. Senger was passed along, from one grade to the next. Eventually, he graduated high school and enlisted in the Navy. Throughout the years of his schooling, however, something had slipped through the cracks: Mr. Senger had never learned to read.
According to ProPublica, stories like Mr. Senger’s are more common than one might think. One-fifth of American adults struggle to read, and with limited resources and programs in many states across the country, this “silent crisis” continues to impact lives throughout the nation.
“For a while, I was able to make do.” Mr. Senger recounts. “After I left the Navy, I started a job at another company. My boss would hand me paperwork and ask me what I thought of it. I’d ask him if I could look it over in my office, and then I’d go in and try to make sense of what was on the page. I could read word-by-word, and sound it out like one of those kids books… See. Jane. Run.”
Mr. Senger continued to achieve success, all while struggling with his inability to read. He went on to own at least two businesses, and continued to gain expertise in business and construction. However, when asked what prompted him to begin taking literacy courses as an adult, Mr. Senger does not cite his job or business endeavors. Rather, it was his son Mark, and their nightly bedtime stories, that sparked his determination.
“When Mark was a kid, we’d always lay in bed together at night and read his Bible Storybook. He’d read the page that was on his side, and I’d read the page that was on my side. By the time Mark was in third or fourth grade, I realized that he was reading better than I was.” Mr. Senger remembers. “Shortly after that, I saw an advertisement for a literacy class offered through JMU at Harrisonburg Baptist Church. I decided it was time for me to take the opportunity and learn how to read.”
And learn, he did.
His teacher was Donna Alexandre Lawyer. Despite all the years, he still remembers her name, and her requirement that he “do his homework first” during the first hour of the class before moving onto reading the personal literature he’d brought to practice with. For Mr. Senger, his literature of choice was the Bible.
“It was exciting for me to learn to read the Bible on my own, and to be able to read it for a little bit at the end of every class. Now, I get to read it every Sunday when I volunteer with Kingsway Prison Ministry… that’s really special.”
Now, years later, Harvey’s son Mark has made it a priority to invest in literacy in Harrisonburg through Senger Roofing’s support of Skyline Literacy.
“I think it’s important to Mark, to support organizations like Skyline, because he saw what learning to read did for me.” Mr. Senger says, adding “It doesn't matter what you do in life, even if it’s math, you have to be able to read. Reading to me is involved in everything that you do. If you can learn to read, you can have a sense of self-sufficiency.”
When asked if he has any advice for adults who are embarking on the journey of literacy, Mr. Senger says:
“The worst part, for me, of not knowing how to read was the shame of other folks finding out… but now, looking back, I know that they already knew. My boss, other people, they all knew. And I guess I want people to know that it is not embarrassing. And it does not mean you are stupid or unintelligent,” he continues, “Reading is a skill, just like anything else. It’s an important skill, but there’s no need to be ashamed. I encourage people to make the decision to learn, and don’t let fear keep you from doing it.”
