When Dr. Amy Leggette was 2 – even before she actually learned to read – she loved showing off for her parents.
Jack Leggette was a southwest Louisiana pipefitter whose job often required him to spend months overseas or in remote areas of the United States, and Paula Leggette was a school teacher.
Whenever Amy’s dad returned home, she would nuzzle up next to him on the sofa and, with just the proper touch of toddler pride, “read” to him “Donald Duck and the Witch Next Door” or the Russian folktale, “The Enormous Turnip,” where it took a village to pry the gigantic vegetable from the ground.
“I fooled him because I sat there and read this whole book, but I actually had just memorized it and couldn’t read yet,” recalled Leggette, who holds a BA in French from Rhodes College and a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Oregon and has served for the last four years as the Director of Educational Services for the YMCA of Greater New Orleans.
When Leggette analyzes the head start in life she was given by a family that nurtured learning in the home, she gains even more respect for those who have not had the benefits of such support and, as a result, still struggle even to read in a world that grows more complex by the hour.
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“I ask myself all the time, ‘Why was I so good at school?’ and I really think it's largely due to my mom and also that I wanted to do well,” Leggette said. “It was just this internal motivation I've always had.”
The 400 teens, young adults, working adults and seniors who annually access the YMCA’s free educational programs in adult basic literacy, high school equivalency testing and English As a Second Language (ESL) have faced obstacles Leggette never could have imagined growing up.
One of Leggette’s favorite stories of resilience is embodied by a 62-year-old man who has served for 32 years with the Jefferson Parish Department of Sewerage despite barely being able to read and write. When he registered at the YMCA, he discovered that most of the other participants were looking to earn their high school equivalency diplomas.
“We do a screening where we can tell when people are filling out their forms that they might be a literacy-level student,” Leggette said. “He was able to open up to us and share his story. I think he was in third grade, which is a critical year for developing literacy skills, when his mom went through a breakup with his dad, so he didn’t have the attention he needed at home and didn’t get the support at school. When he started to fall behind, he just got further and further behind.
“At first, he was embarrassed to say what he was there for, but once we sat with him and heard his story, we told him stories about other students who have a similar story. It just helps to know you're not alone and how brave you are to decide to do this for yourself.”
After assessing his needs, Leggette assigned him to a volunteer tutor for one-on-one lessons. Leggette’s team includes herself, three other full-time instructors, three part-time teachers and six long-term volunteer tutors.
Over the last four years, Leggette has worked to expand the YMCA’s educational service locations, which are now available at the YMCA Learning Center at the main New Orleans Public Library, the East Bank Regional and Wagner libraries in Metairie, the Belle Terre Library in Marrero and the J.C. Simmons Community Center in Avondale.
Coming soon will be adult basic literacy and high school diploma prep classes at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Kenner. The YMCA also offers fully supported online study for the HiSET (High School Equivalency Test).
“More than half of our students are below a second-grade reading level,” Leggette said. “Some of our students say they were just put in a room that was ‘special ed,’ and then there’s no expectation for academic progress at all. So, they come to us with that stigma, that shame.”
Some YMCA students experienced dyslexia or had auditory problems as children, some were displaced or had to quit school to start working as teenagers, and some are working parents in their 20s and 30s who trend toward online services because they need flexible schedules in caring for their children, Leggette said.
“Because we’re smaller, we’re able to be more individualized, so they’re not swallowed up in the class,” she said.
Leggette’s example of memorizing a story – without mastering the phonetic sounds – is not ideal for teaching adults how to read. Adults who can’t read do a lot of “guessing – good guessing because they bring their life knowledge to try to compensate for not being able to decode the words.”
“But a lot of what we do in the classroom is to get them to stop guessing so that they’ll actually learn the skills of breaking down the words and get the phonics operational,” she said.
Many who come to the YMCA for help have lost their high school records in moves or natural disasters such as Katrina, and that means “they basically have to start over,” Leggette said.
The speed with which a student can pass the five-subject test for the high school equivalency diploma varies. “I have some people finish in a month, some in a year,” Leggette said. “Some people have been with us for eight years.”
Leggette says her team of teachers consistently amazes her for its ingenuity. One teacher used an AI tool to simplify a complex newspaper story about the doomsday flooding scenarios predicted for the New Orleans region, and that sparked a lively discussion.
“She was able to make it accessible to the class, and she used some of the graphics from the article, too,” Leggette said. “It was amazing. I love my team.”
One student who lost his job because he could not spell came to the YMCA and learned to spell so well that he was rehired 13 months later. Leggette used a novel by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Márquez to help a Colombian student work on her English reading and writing skills.
“Going for a student’s interest helps a lot,” Leggette said.
Leggette also has worked with teens at Covenant House and Eden House who have been victims of abuse or human trafficking. One woman who had been a victim of trafficking earned her high school equivalency diploma and gave a speech at her graduation ceremony
After missing her bus ride, she got there on time only because Leggette drove to her home to pick her up.
“We figured out the reason she missed her first bus is because the baby threw away her tassel,” Leggette said, laughing.
Education is a gift that can never be undervalued, Leggette said.
“I don't understand why I was able to get so educated, and it's been such a gift that continues to give to me in my life,” she said. “I can't not want to give that to other people.”
The Corporate Classic and The YMCA's Educational Services |
The Corporate Classic, a 5K race now in it's 46th year, helps to fund the YMCA's Educational Services.
The 3.1 mile race takes place at City Park on October 24th, 2026. Whether you’re a seasoned runner, a casual walker, or a parent with a stroller, this event is for you. Kids ages 11 and under can enjoy the free Kids Corner, complete with supervised activities and bouncy houses — so the whole family can take part!
Learn more here.
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