Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bloomington IN :: Hartford CT :: Mariposa Co CA :: Athens AL

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Beyond Reading, Adult Literacy Is Survival

Limestone Post: 11.28.2017 by Michelle Gottschlich

Reva Duke and I grew up in Indiana and both refer to Bloomington as “home.” We have things in common. I knew I’d feel comfortable with Duke as soon as I met her. She has style. She’s the kind of person who probably stands under 5-foot-3, but you can’t be sure because you remember her as tall. When we met in early August, she was wearing an outfit I’d wear around the house with close friends. She had on a Mickey Mouse baseball cap, the sort of accessory that says to me the wearer’s got humor as well as deep tenderness.

Reva, how long have you lived in Bloomington?

Duke: “I’m from here, all my fifty-or-so-something years. I’ve lived a lot of places, but Bloomington’s been my home.”

How long have you been coming to VITAL?
Duke: “Six years.”

What was your reading level when you started at VITAL?
Duke: “When I came to VITAL, I could write an X for my name. I’ve learned a lot from VITAL. My math was at a kindergarten level and now is at the fifth grade, my reading is at the sixth-grade level.”

To understand literacy as the ability to read written language is to imagine literacy in a vacuum, bare and without context. Literacy is not a question of “Yes, I can read, I am literate,” or “No, I cannot read, I am illiterate.” It, instead, operates on the question, “Does my level of reading and comprehension empower me, or does it disempower me?” This allows the answers “sometimes yes” and “sometimes no.” For example, a person may be able to read but may not have the necessary aptitude to successfully file legal forms, like an application for disability. When a person cannot apply a particular level of skill with language, they can be disempowered by it. In most communities, literacy and its sustainment through education is survival. It’s a housing application, a citizenship test, a phone bill, health insurance, access to social services, a diploma, a job that can support a family. For decades, literacy and adult-education programs in Monroe County have found ways to reach adults where they are in life and in our community.

Indiana Literacy Assoc

Volunteers In Tutoring Adult Learners, or VITAL, began at the Monroe County Public Library in 1977. It predates the Indiana Literacy Association and has been a flagship program for literacy services throughout Indiana since.  READ MORE >>

Forced To Move Again, Hartford Adult Literacy Program Finally Finds Permanent Home

Hartford Courant: 11.29.2017 by Vinny Vella

Cilous Kelly doesn’t mince words when discussing Read To Succeed, the adult-literacy program he enrolled in not long after arriving in Connecticut from Jamaica.

“Words can’t explain how I feel; this program is outstanding,” Kelly said Tuesday night as he prepared for his one-on-one tutoring lesson. “I’ve never been in anything like this in my life, this is one of the best things to happen to me.”

And now, after more than a year of uncertainty, of shuttling its materials and personnel around the city, Read to Succeed has found a permanent home in Center Church, The First Church of Christ In Hartford, a historic house of worship on Main Street where it molds students like Kelly.

The Bloomfield resident is a cook at the Seabury residential facility, and takes lessons in his spare time, usually after work. He hopes to one day get his high school diploma, maybe open up a business of his own.

“I want people to know that this program works,” he said. “It’s their way of getting to you one on one that helps you catch on faster.”

The program laid its roots down 30 years ago inside the Downtown YMCA. But when the facility closed in 2016, the program was placed in limbo, unsure where, or if, it would continue.  WATCH VIDEO

Literacy Film Reaps Rewards for Mariposa County Library

Sierra Sun Times: 11.30.2017

A film created by two local librarians about the Mariposa County Library’s adult literacy program was one of 10 short documentaries showcased at the Central Valley Community Foundation’s Big Tell Film Festival at Warnors Theater in Fresno last month.

Entitled “Literacy Empowers,” the 5-minute film told the stories of two volunteer tutors and two learners in their own words.  It was conceived and made by Library staff members Rebecca Adams and Karen Dusek. Local songwriter/musician Ronnie Sweeting provided an original instrumental score.

The idea was selected with nine others from a field of 85 applicants. Each winner was awarded a grant of $5,000. They also had an opportunity to be mentored by award-winning film maker Sascha Rice and to receive one-on-one training at the Community Media Center (CMAC) studio in Fresno. Highlights included dinner with the CVCF board of directors and representatives of Bank of America, which contributed $25,000 toward the Big Tell program, and an opportunity to meet Academy Award winner and USC professor Michael Fink, who also presented a lively workshop based on his work on the film “The Golden Compass”.  READ MORE >>

Learn To Read

Learn to Read celebrates students, staff

News Courier: 11.30.2017 by Sarah Pavlik-Hernandez

For over 25 years, the students and staff from Learn to Read, a nonprofit organization that promotes local literacy, have gathered together to celebrate their many success stories at a Christmas feast. This year's dinner will take place at the Rodgers Center at First Presbyterian Church on Monday, Dec. 4.

Founded in 1987 by a tenacious Athenian named Mable Prince, the group's mission has evolved to fit the needs of the community. Originally, Prince started Learn to Read after hearing about a local man who couldn't read.

“She thought there had to be something she could do about it,” Rhonda Andrews, executive director of Learn to Read, said. “She started the program for adults who could not read well and function in today's society.”

It has since grown into a tutoring program that not only helps adults with reading difficulties but incorporates after-school reading and math tutoring for children ages 6-15, a summer literacy program for kids and classes for those learning English as a second language.

“Lately, we aren't getting people who cannot read anything,” Andrews said. “But what we are seeing more of is people who cannot pass the evaluations to get into the GED program.”  READ MORE >>