Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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Literacy
can change your life
Monterey
Herald: 11.19.2018 by Mary Jeanne Vincent
If
you are reading this column, count yourself among the lucky adults in the
United States who can read and write. According to the website proliteracy.org,
36 million adults in the U.S. cannot read, write or do basic math above a
third-grade level.
If
you can read and write, why should you care about others who cannot? Because
low literacy costs the U.S. $225 billion annually in workforce
non-productivity, loss of tax revenue due to unemployment and crime. In
addition, there are another $232 billion in health care costs linked to low
adult literacy skills.
In
Monterey County, 25 percent of the adult population reads below the
fourth-grade level, 43 percent of the people with the lowest literacy skills
live in poverty and 70 percent have no full or part-time job.
The
cost of illiteracy is often hidden and yet every important social issue is
impacted by it. When individuals learn to read, write and do basic math they
find their voice, lift themselves out of poverty and find sustainable
employment. They are also far less likely to land in state prison;
approximately 75 percent of state prison inmates have not completed high school
or can be classified as low literate.
It
may surprise you to learn that of 197 nations worldwide, 26 boast a literacy
rate of 99-plus percent. Sadly, the United States ranks 125th with just 86
percent of our population able to read, write and do basic math.
Fortunately,
Monterey County Free Libraries is doing its part to combat this problem. They offer an
adult literacy training program that is fueled by community volunteers. READ
MORE >>
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73-Year-Old
Family Role Model Learns to Read
ProLiteracy:
11.21.2018 by Jennifer Vecchiarelli in Student
Stories
This
inspirational student story was submitted for the ProLiteracy Hero contest by
Melissa Moore, President at Read Muskegon. Read Muskegon is a great program in
Muskegon Heights, Michigan, that provides customized curricula that meet the
unique needs of its learners, and builds community partnerships to enhance its
impact in the field.
Bennie’s
Story
Bennie
first came to Read Muskegon at the age of 72 after he was referred to us by a
local GED program. Bennie’s reading level was too low to be able to participate
and they felt he may never be able to learn to read. When we gave him the TABE
test, he scored a zero. Despite that, he was determined to learn and was
committed to meeting with his tutor twice a week. Over the last year, through
freezing winter weather and health challenges, he rarely missed a session.
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Literacy
Network Lands Biggest Grant Ever; Will Fund Adult Education on South Side
Madison
365: 11.21.2018 by L. Malik Anderson
On
Thursday, Nov. 15, the Literacy Network
announced the largest donation given to the organization in their 44-year
history, which will go towards expanding adult educational programming at
Madison College’s new South Madison campus, set to open in the fall of 2019.
“We’ve
been in partnership with Literacy Network for some time, we’ve really enjoyed
that partnership,” Madison College President Jack Daniels III said.
Over
the next three years, the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation will give the organization
$300,000 to help adult English language learners complete their degrees and
certificates at Madison College. Literacy Network Executive Director Jeff
Burkhart said this donation will allow the organization to increase its
capacity to serve 150 more students.
“We’re
going to increase the number of classes available to our students,” he said.
The
new direction of Literacy Network’s programming represents a new collaborative
effort to serve the South Madison community.
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According
to Literacy Network, students in their academic tutoring program over a
two-year period at Madison College demonstrated a 304 percent increase in test
scores. Twenty one percent were more likely to enroll in an additional semester
than those without tutoring. READ
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Nonprofit
aims to help local immigrants become citizens
Coast
News: 11.21.2018 by Lexy Brodt
Angel
Nava, 63, has the 100 civics questions on the U.S. citizenship test down pat.
Every
Wednesday night, the 45-year Encinitas resident attends a citizenship tutoring
event hosted by the North
County Immigration and Citizenship Center (NCICC), a nonprofit that focuses
on helping local immigrants obtain citizenship.
Nava,
who studies the cards assiduously both at home and during the events, started
attending the classes five months ago. His primary reason? To be able to vote.
And
Nava is not alone — he is just one of many students served by the nonprofit,
which was founded in 2012 by a group of local churchgoers at the Solana Beach
Presbyterian Church.
Stephen
Carlton — a former educator and one of five founding board members — first
recognized a need for immigrant educational services in 2008, when he was
working as a tutor at Casa de Amistad, a learning center in Solana Beach. He
remembers seeing groups of parents milling around outside, conversing in
Spanish and waiting for their children.
“I
began to really be burdened by the fact that we were working with the students,
but who is addressing the needs of the adults, the parents?” Carlton said.
Carlton
and several others jumpstarted what was termed the Adult Literacy Academy.
Fulfilling the need for adult education among immigrants in the community —
particularly those living in the Hispanic pockets of North County such as La
Colonia de Eden Park — spurred a realization that the community’s needs went
far beyond language learning.
Its
initial mission to educate soon materialized into a widely inclusive objective:
to serve the immigrant community in North County. READ
MORE >>
: Spanning the U.S.
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