Literacy:
Spanning North America
Speaking Out: Midland
Need to Read celebrates 30 years of supporting adult literacy
Midland Reporter Telegram: 7.31.2015 by Jessica
Smith
Approximately one in
three adults in the U.S. cannot read this sentence, according to National
Assessment of Adult Literacy in 2003. If this statistic holds
true in our community, one-third of Midland adults have difficulty reading the
newspaper or their children’s homework, communicating in English, working in
mathematics, or using a computer or smartphone. For the past 30 years, Midland Need to Read has sought to answer
the challenge of adult literacy by providing services to those seeking to
enhance their lives through literacy.
The MN2R adult
literacy program is unique. It provides individualized tutoring for adults in
both one-to-one and small class settings, covering three main branches of
literacy — GED preparation, English as a second language, and basic literacy
skills (reading, writing, mathematics, computers, etc.). Students are tutored
by professionally trained tutors and staff. Classes and tutor pairs have the
opportunity to meet at the MN2R Literacy House or at approximately 50 off-site
locations provided by community partners, such as the Midland County Public
Library and Mardell. READ MORE !
Bodnar has lived
literacy story first hand
Alberni Valley News: 7.30.2015 by Susan
Quinn
“It was not until my
late 20s that I became, what is known to me, as literate.”
Alana Bodnar is the
executive assistant at Literacy Alberni.
A dynamic woman with a quick smile and an eye for portrait photography, she is
a mother, a wrestling supporter (her daughter was a provincial-level competitor
and her husband coaches), a photographer and many other things. She has also
struggled with literacy since she was a child.
Last year Bodnar
decided to put her experiences with literacy to paper and entered her story in
a provincial writing contest sponsored by Decoda Literacy Solutions, answering
the question ‘how has literacy impacted your life’. She won second place with
her essay.
“I entered the contest
because I like writing and I wanted to share my story,” says Bodnar.
Bodnar struggled with
reading comprehension, decoding, writing, copying. “It’s different now than it
was then: I would be segregated into a learning classroom. I would be taken out
of my English class and taken to sit in a room,” she says.
“Growing up I knew I
was not an academic; my spelling was atrocious, my handwriting was messy, my
copying skills lacked and when it came to tests, I flunked.” READ MORE !
Guest Opinion: Library
tutors can coach adults to better life, literacy
Vacaville Reporter: 8.01.2015 by Malissa Knapp,
Solano
County Library branch manager for libraries in Vacaville and Vallejo
Would it surprise you to
know that 36 million American adults need literacy help, but only three million
of them will be lucky enough to get it?
Would it surprise you
that one in five American adults cannot access or use the internet?
How about the fact that
illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year?
I still haven’t
surprised you? How about this: Three out of five people in American prisons can’t
read, and approximately 50 percent of Americans read so poorly that they are
unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels.
Reading and writing are
skills that many of us take for granted. English proficiency and effective
job-seeking skills are a real-life necessity in our community.
Public libraries are
one of the few establishments left where literacy services, computer access,
job seeking and training workshops, and a whole host of other services are
offered free to any community member.
Teaching an adult to
read can change their life and that of their family. The good news is you can
help change a life!
The Solano County Library has announced the
next training opportunity for adult volunteers to learn strategies for teaching
an adult learner to read or speak English.
READ MORE !
Morris Plains man likes
seeing literacy trickle down
Daily Record: 8.02.2015 by Leslie Ruse -
Ruse on the Loose
As President of the Literacy
Volunteers of Morris County, Steve Goscinski was always
looking for new ways to raise money and bring awareness to his organization.
Working at Staples, the
Morris Plains resident was happy to learn of the Staples Foundation’s 2 Million and Change
program and how it could help the group.
“As president of the
board I thought, I really ought to do something,” Goscinski, laughed. “But
seriously, as president of the board, I wanted to help out. Staples is a great
company and when I looked a little bit further into their 2 Million and Change
program, I found they’re really looking to support local efforts. They’re
looking at education and job readiness. I thought, that’s exactly what I mean.
We couldn’t be any better aligned with our goals.”
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“We look at it as
overall literacy. We are looking to give them some basic life skills, making
certain they can pay their bills, how to understand a bank account and things
like that. As much as we can do, wherever the need is, we fill it with the
curriculum it calls for,” said Goscinski, who also volunteers each week with
the organization.
“We bring people along
from understanding the basic language to conversational skills. We’ve had people
that said, I can speak the language but I want to be able to understand so it
sounds like I know what I’m talking about. Things that we really do take for
granted.”
According to the
Literacy Volunteers of Morris County’s website, one out of five adults in New
Jersey has difficulty reading, writing or communicating in English. For more
than 25 years, they have been providing free tutoring to adults in Morris
County who need to improve their literacy skills so that they can make the most
out of their lives. READ MORE !
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