Literacy – Spanning the US :: Porterville CA :: Little Rock AR :: Camarillo CA

Latino adult literacy targeted

Porterville Record: 3.08.2017

The Porterville City Library has been selected as one of nine libraries across California to join a pilot program – Leamos™ (Let’s Read) @ the Library.

The pilot program aims to bring the Centro Latino for Literacy online literacy course to the state’s non-literate Spanish speakers, which number 573,866. The two-year pilot project is supported by a grant awarded by the James Irvine Foundation to Centro Latino to explore partnerships with public libraries.

Greg Lucas, California State Librarian, said, “In a state which gained a Latino plurality [in 2014], it seems at a minimum good common sense to encourage programs like Leamos. Without literacy skills in their native language, proficiency in English becomes significantly harder, if not impossible, to attain.”

Porterville Library Supervisor Rebecca Jauregui, who heads up the Adult Literacy Center, is very excited about being selected. She said the city did not apply, but was chosen. It is the only library in the Central Valley chosen.

“This is unique,” she said of the program. They are still recruiting volunteers, but are ready to begin.

The program is to teach adults who have very little — less than two years — or schooling in their native country. It is to teach them to read and write in Spanish.  READ MORE @

Volunteers partner with Literacy Action to teach female inmates how to read

THV 11: 3.08.2017

In January 2016, volunteers From Westover Hills Presbyterian Church partnered with to provide one-on-one tutoring through the separation glass with the female inmates at the county jail.

@LiteracyAction 

One year later, in response to the rising interest in tutoring services, Literacy Action, through volunteer tutors from Westover Hills, now offers literacy classes to 15-20 women once a week in a more traditional classroom at PCRDF.

Beginning this year, Literacy Action will also begin offering its first literacy class for male inmates. There are already 4 students signed up and eager for the opportunity to improve their literacy skills. Sara Drew, Executive Director of Literacy Action, comments, "Some of the men in this program are veterans, so this gives them a chance not only to voice their war-time experiences, but also an opportunity to improve their employability when they leave the facility."

Meeting in a classroom has given the students more opportunities to interact with their volunteer tutors to receive instruction and to complete group projects. The student population is constantly shifting as women transfer to prison, return home, or enter rehabilitation programs. Yet, these challenges do not deter the students from learning. By working on vocabulary, punctuation and writing, the tutors are able to improve the skills that inmates will carry with them as they move forward in life.  WATCH 📺

Library volunteer savors job perks

Literacy tutor’s students thank her with homemade dishes

Camarillo Acorn: 3.10.2017 by Stephanie Sumell

Barbara Wagner may not have a passport, but the volunteer has happily sampled cuisines from around the globe. It’s one of the perks of being a tutor with the Adult Literacy Program at the Camarillo Public Library.

The program provides free tutoring to adults who want to improve their reading and writing skills.

Some students like to bring Wagner tamales, casseroles and other dishes to show her how much they appreciate what she does.

“They are so generous in trying to thank me,” the tutor said of her students, most of whom speak English as a second language. “I’ve never been anywhere, but I’ve eaten food from all over the world.”

It’s one of the many bonuses the 80-year-old gets from helping others.

Wagner was recently named Volunteer of the Year by the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce.  READ MORE @