Literacy:
Spanning the U.S.
Wausau
Daily Herald: 3.02.2015 by Al Catacutan, intern with the Central Wisconsin Literacy Council
Many
people think the Central Wisconsin Literacy Council, or CWLC, only helps with reading. The CWLC
offers much more though.
Being
able to read is important, but it is only one part of our program. The CWLC
helps adults learn English reading, speaking and writing, math and computer
skills. Our goal is helping adults learn skills to obtain and keep jobs that
pay enough to support a family.
The CWLC
works with adults able to learn. An adult needs to spend at least one hour a
week. Help may begin with reading and speaking. It may add math and computer
skills. We help some people work on their GED. We help some in college and
apprentice programs. The CWLC helps in many settings.
It does
not matter where a person was born to get help from the CWLC. People born and
raised in the U.S. as well as people born outside the U.S. need the same
English skills to obtain work and do well in our society. What matters the most
is the person's interest in learning.
The CWLC
works like many schools do, using someone with certain skills to help someone
develop the same skills. Secondary schools have often used students with more
skills to tutor students with lower skills to catch up. The CWLC uses volunteer
tutors in much the same way. READ
MORE !
SC
Now: 3.03.2015 by Nicole Cartrette
Melinda
Graham turned to the Florence
Area Literacy Council at one of the most difficult times in her life.
“When I
first came here I was homeless and living in a shelter,” said Graham, a victim
of domestic violence. She knew she wanted a better life but without a high
school education it had been difficult to accomplish that.
A friend
she met at the shelter in 2009 told her about one-on-one tutoring that the
literacy council provides at no cost.
"They
were so welcoming and supportive,” Graham said. “I fit in here.”
That was
something that she said did not happen in high school.
Blending
in at high school was always a challenge for Graham, who at the age of 10 came
to Florence to live with her grandmother, Gwen Coleman, after both of her
parents died. She is now 29.
She
struggled in school, unlike her two younger sisters (one is in undergraduate
school and the other is working on a doctorate).
Graham
said she didn’t catch on to things as quickly as others.
“It was
very difficult,” she said. “Kids were not nice to me. I got picked on because I
was a slow learner so I hid in the bathroom.”
Reading
aloud struck so much fear in her that she stuttered. READ
MORE !
PLS
Literacy Services program provides a path to citizenship
City
Sentinel: 3.11.2015 by Darla Shelden
The
program is made possible through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
As part
of the grant, “Citizenship Corners” have been established at five PLS hometown
libraries – Moore, Norman Central, Purcell, Shawnee and Southwest Oklahoma
City.
Each
venue will have information such as reference sheets, study guides, contact
numbers for organizations that can answer specific questions on citizenship and
information about the PLS’s Literacy Services program for adults.
“They
will have all kinds of information about the process and what to do next,” said
Jane Douglass, Literacy Services Coordinator for the Pioneer Library System.
The
library offers tutoring for both English as a Second Language students as well
as native English speakers. Learners can work one-on-one with volunteer tutors
to help them earn a GED or to just speak and read the language better.
PLS is
in the process of training volunteer tutors specifically to work with those
interested in pursuing U.S. citizenship.
Noble,
Oklahoma resident, Yolanda Valenzuela, is one of hundreds who have benefitted
from the PLS Adult Literacy Services program.
READ
MORE !
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