KANSAS CITY Mo.
Tears trickled down Reulan Levin’s face as she read the thank-you letter proof that her caring had helped lift a former student over seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
The writer was labeled a behavior problem when Levin, then a high school social studies teacher, met her in a Kansas City classroom.
“It wasn’t that she wasn’t college material,” said Levin, now an education professor at Avila University. “She had been so wounded, and her self-esteem was so low, that she didn’t believe in her own ability. I looked beyond that.”
Unbeknownst to the student, Levin arranged for the girl to receive money for college. Now she is a chemist for a major pharmaceutical company.
Levin, who grew up in a gang-ridden neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, is passionate in her belief that most children can succeed if given a hand.
That’s why at Avila University, Levin tutors students and listens and prays for them when they bring her their academic and personal struggles. It’s why in the summer she teaches urban teens in Upward Bound, which allows high school students to take classes on a college campus. It’s why Levin teaches other teachers how to connect with students who seem unlikely to succeed.
