Teaching basic reading, writing, and critical thinking skills is immensely gratifying and vitally important work, requiring intelligence, optimism, and humanity. To be able to gain some sliver of understanding with regard to students' attitudes, behaviors, skills, and abilities; to recognize that there exists a multiplicity of possible explanations for anything; and to see students as complicated, capable individuals, not as subjects or statistics, is essential. However, student success--especially in remedial courses--is tenuous. Students in these courses represent a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, cultures, and abilities, and these disparities may cause students to question their own identity and/or ability. As an English teacher involved with remedial students, the author believes they need more consideration, and her colleagues need more space and time, to be able to respond to their students as human beings. The Kingsborough Community College Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), which is presented in this article, is one response to the needs of remedial students and has enjoyed initial success, providing a compelling option to help students succeed.