Lawrence Public Library, pictured Aug. 20, 2015. Phonics is the key to unlocking literacy skills among Lawrence K-12 students, according to educator Barbara Mullen, and the use of other methods to ...

His mother was illiterate, and when Mr. Blumenfeld was a child, he struggled to help her learn the rudiments of reading and writing. “In the end he did teach her. She could write and sign her name,” ...