Literacy:
Spanning the U.S.
Literacy leaders to be
honored at gala
Stockton Record: 11.18.2015
Eighteen individuals and
organizations from San Joaquin County will be honored tonight at Wine and Roses
in Lodi by San Joaquin A+ in the 16th annual Spirit of Literacy Awards Gala.
The Spirit of Literacy
Awards, sponsored this, it's 16th, year by Kaiser Permanente, recognize
individuals and organizations that contribute to the awareness and development
of literacy activities in San Joaquin County.
• Champion of Literacy,
Carol Ornelas: A visionary and advocate for providing quality affordable
housing, Ornelas has been Chief Executive Officer for Visionary Home Builders
of California for the past 30 years. She also is on the board of directors at
The Haggin Museum, St. Joseph Community Board and a member of the University of
the Pacific’s Beyond Our Gates committee.
• After School Program,
Rebecca Conner (Lincoln Unified): As a reading specialist for Lincoln Unified’s
elementary sites, she develops an after-school reading intervention program for
100 students each year.
• Outstanding Efforts at
a Preschool, El Concilio for Migrant Headstart.
• Outstanding Program at
a Library, Tracy Branch of San Joaquin County Public Library. READ MORE @
Montgomery
area literacy group reaches new milestone
WFSA: 11.20.2105 by Allen Henry
For 30
years, the Capital
Area Adult Literacy Club has been helping people learn how to
read.
This
week, the program hit a monumental achievement by graduating it's 3,000th
tutor. That means an average of 100 tutors have graduated each year since 1985.
"More
people are coming out of schools unprepared for life," said Woody
Woodcock, a member of the Council. "So that means that they're going to
need some help somewhere, or else they're going to be just struggling
along."
Woodcock
has been working with the literacy Club since 1991, and says while a lot has
changed in the last 24 years, the basics of reading have not.
"The
words have not changed. The wording has not changed except for updating some
prices on the menus," said Woodcock. "You gotta be careful what age
book you've got, make sure your students have the same prices when you ask them
to add them up. But other than that, the wording has not changed." READ MORE @
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| @LitVolBangor |
Literacy
volunteers host statewide conference on adult literacy
WCSH6: 11.20.2015 VIDEO
At
least 20% of the Greater Bangor area has trouble understanding written
instructions according to the Literacy Volunteers of
Bangor.
Educators,
tutors and teachers gathered for the organization's annual literacy conference
on Saturday. The event consisted of a number breakout sessions and guest
speakers, including former students who shared stories about how their lives
have been impacted by literacy.
Brandi
Meservey, a single mother of three young boys, was one of those in attendance.
After growing up in poverty and surviving an abusive relationship, she looked
for a way to change her life. With only a seventh grade education, Brandi
didn't know think college was an option.
"I
had no idea of what there was out there, or what I could do to better our
situation," she said.
She
joined a pilot program that teaches mothers career and life skills. The program
is where she met Mary Lyon, a mentor who Brandi said is helping her get to a
place where she can be a better mom.
"It
was just a matter of opening doors letting her know she was smart enough,
letting her know that there was money to go to school," Mary said.
The
story of their friendship was just one of the many shared Saturday at Toolkit
for Tutors and Teachers. READ MORE @
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Finding Their Dreams:
Eric & Amy Melendez
Seeds
of Literacy: 11.23.2015 by Alexandria Marshall
Batman and Robin?
Please. Real-life heroes work a little differently, and Seeds of Literacy has
its own dynamic duo in Eric and Amy Melendez, a brother-sister team who draw on
their shared love of learning to attend classes at Seeds nearly every day.
They are smart and
driven, with the only thing stronger than their dedication to earning a GED
being their support for each other.
It wasn’t always like
this, though, and Eric is unafraid to lay bare his past.“I got in trouble a
lot, and was in and out of the 8th and 9th grades for a few years. At that
point in my life, I didn’t think school was important.”He talks about his
involvement in the juvenile justice system, less-than-successful educational
programs, and becoming a father at a young age. “After that, school was behind
me,” he says. “I had to work to take care of my family.”
For Amy, being in
foster care as a teenager and moving from home to home — sometimes even from
state to state — made junior high difficult.
She worked on her diploma by correspondence course and homeschooling,
but soon after her 18th birthday, Amy had her first child and stopped thinking
about school.
Both Amy and Eric found
themselves as young parents without a high school diploma. Nearly a decade of
low-paying jobs followed for Eric: pizza delivery, temporary factory work,
dishwasher, and cook. Eric wished to return to school, but unpredictable
schedules and family obligations filled his days and nights. READ
MORE @
Volunteer Topeka: Duo
devotes time to teaching others to read with Topeka Literacy Council
Council hopes to
increase awareness of literacy problems
Topeka Capitol Journal: 11.22.2015 by
Carolyn Kaberline
Lisa Hammer can remember
listening to poor readers in her class when she was going to school and knew
the students were no doubt feeling frustrated.
Kevin Koen recalls
wanting to help others learn to read and seeing newspaper advertisements for
the Topeka
Literacy Council. Finally, there came a day when, instead of
thinking “I’ll do it someday,” he said to himself “Why not today?”
Hammer and Koen are
members of the Topeka Literacy Council board of directors. Hammer joined the
council as a tutor in 2010 and is the board’s president, while Koen, who came
aboard in 1992, serves as office manager.
Founded in 1967, the
Topeka Literacy Council is a nonprofit organization of volunteers whose mission
is to help adults learn to read and write.
According to a 2010
U.S. Census Bureau report, about 6,700 people in the Topeka area lack basic
literacy skills. In addition, a 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy
report estimated 63 million Americans were unable to read a basic newspaper and
an additional 30 million Americans could read, at best, at a fifth-grade level.
With those facts in
mind, the Topeka Literacy Council trains adult tutors to work with students in
a one-on-one setting. Tutors use the primarily phonics-based Laubach method developed
in the 1930s. READ MORE @
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