Laura is a central Arkansas native.  She began working as a volunteer ESL tutor with Literacy Action in 2018 when she led the ESL class at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway, and also tutored individual students. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in English & TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages).  

Wearing many hats, Laura is responsible for the administrative side of the organization as well as taking care of student communications, coordinating new students, intakes, evaluations, choosing curricula, etc. She is very passionate about helping students with their literacy needs and continues to teach ESL classes as a volunteer. Laura is very active in the immigrant community, often working with other organizations to educate and ensure access to resources . 

While still learning, Laura is an intermediate speaker of Spanish and helps to communicate with our Spanish speaking students and families as well as connecting with our Spanish speaking community at outreach events. 

Former AmeriCorps service member for LACA, Roger now provides our new tutors with valuable insight and prepares them to become the best tutors they can be at training workshops.

He has a Masters in Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.  Roger says that his commitment to empower children and adults to be the best persons that they already are has manifested in lots of different ways over the years. He has taught children in the classroom and tutored English for many years.  He has coached marginalized adults to access community workforce and wellness services. A professional stage actor and director, he also ran school drama program.  Roger and his wife moved to Little Rock from Delaware. He is very happy to be here where he gardens and gets to just hang out with Hope, his wife, and love life.

Hope was a classroom teacher for thirty years, including a three-year special education experience and degree in Britain in a residential school for children with profound disabilities. She enjoys connecting with ESL students from different countries and her ABL students as a LACA tutor. Hope has had the pleasure of helping students get their driver’s licenses, further their education, practice interviewing skills, and find jobs as their confidence increases. She is committed to helping her students in the Pulaski County Detention Center improve their literacy skills as they strive to return to their families and prepare for jobs. She is married to Roger Hawkins and enjoys singing, writing, travel and gardening.

Cheryl Chapman joined the LACA team in 2022 as a part-time grant writer. She brings 38 years of grant writing and non-profit management, a graduate degree in Professional and Technical Writing and college teaching experience. As the former founding director of Children’s International at UA Little Rock, she has developed and managed education, health and family service programs for K-16, with broad experience in program and partnership development, fundraising, budget management and assessment. Cherly enjoys her time with grandchildren and gardening.

Carolyn has been a volunteer tutor for LACA since 2021 and joined our staff in 2024, with a focus on expanding our reach in Saline county. She brings a lifetime of experience as an award winning teacher working with adults and children with disabilities and special needs and students learning English. She holds a BS for Education for the Deaf from The University of Tulsa, the QUAST Level in American Sign Language, and an English Second Language Endorsement from Arkansas Tech University. Carolyn continues to tutor in her spare time and is passionate about broadening the lives of her students. She also enjoys spending time gardening and going on outdoor adventures.

As a well-loved educator for many years, Sammi brings her knowledge and experience to expand the reach of Literacy Action as an outreach and tutor coordinator. 

Originally from Leachville, AR, Sammi holds a BES in Home Economics, Science, and Elementary Education. She taught science in the Morrilton & Conway school districts for more than 20 years and continued to touch the lives of students of all ages as a substitute in Conway for many years. 

Sammi is a proud mother and grandmother.