Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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| @HumboldtLit |
Volunteer tutors help local learners
gain reading, writing skills
Times Standard: 9.24.2016 by
Heather Shelton
September is National Literacy Month,
four weeks set aside to promote the importance of reading and writing skills
throughout the country.
On the North Coast, staff and volunteers
with the local Humboldt Literacy Project are working each and every day to teach adults in the county
the literacy skills they need to succeed on the job, at home and in the
community.
“We’re focused on one-on-one
tutoring (of the) English language for adults,” Humboldt Literacy Project
Executive Director Emma Breacain said.
The Humboldt Literacy Project —
which opened in 1985 — has about 80 trained volunteer tutors and 80 adult
“learners” that get together regularly to work on literacy skills. Currently,
Breacain said, nearly 14,000 adults in Humboldt County are functionally
illiterate — reading below a fifth-grade level.
Learners — like tutors — come to the
Humboldt Literacy Project from different backgrounds and range in age from 18
to over 80. Some have learning disabilities; others fell through the cracks of
the educational system. Some suffered economic hardships and worked instead of
going to school; others suffered traumatic brain injuries that robbed them of
their literacy skills.
“It’s really everything you could
possibly think of,” Breacain said. “I have met people, both native English
speakers and ESL (English as a Second Language) students, who aren’t totally
competent on alphabet letter recognition and I have ESL students who are
illiterate in their native language as well as English … You can be a doctor or
a lawyer from another country and you come here and you don’t speak the
language and you’re basically starting over until you get your English under
your belt … I have people who are working at a high school or college level who
need to improve their composition and their comprehension. I get everybody all
over the map. If you want help with your reading and writing, then probably
this program is for you.”
Learners also come to Humboldt
Literacy Project for many reasons, she said. Some want to work toward a better
job. Others want to be able to help their kids with schoolwork. Some want to
improve their lives in general. READ MORE @
Adult literacy volunteer tutors are
honored at luncheon
“I tell the kids you can journey
anywhere in the world you wanted to go. All you do is pick-up a book
Covington News: 9.26.2016 by Sandra Barnes
For Ann Stokes, learning to read has
been exciting because she has been able to read the Bible daily.
“The most important thing I wanted
to learn is reading the Bible,” the 65-year-old Covington resident said. “I
understand it and read it all the time.”
Stokes began taking literacy classes
and working with a one-on-one tutor a decade ago. “The Lord told me it was my
time! It makes my day.”
The literacy class she takes that
has enabled her to finally read the Bible is one of two offered through Allen
Memorial United Methodist Church in Oxford.
Mary Jo Roberts, of Oxford, is one of the tutors working with adults learning
to read. In fact, she is Stokes’ tutor.
“It’s really helped her confidence
and self-esteem,” Roberts said. The former teacher, Roberts, said she began
volunteering to contribute to her community and “to keep my brain active.”
The two women were part of the
“Celebration of Literacy/Work Force Development” held Wednesday at Georgia
Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) to honor adult literacy volunteers.
Laura Bertram, Executive Director of
the Newton County Community Partnership, announced that Newton Family
Connection, GPTC’s adult education program, the Covington Housing Authority and
Action Ministries are partnering to promote literacy in the county. READ MORE @
Improved learning center good for the
community
Recorder: 9.26.2016
On Friday, city leaders and civic
leaders gathered to officially open the greatly enhanced Adult Learning Center.
The City Public Library’s Adult Literacy Program has been given a new home, more space and now offers even more
opportunities for adults who cannot read or write to learn these needed skills.
The city has moved the learning
center to the building across the street from City Hall at 15 E. Thurman Ave.,
above Hoagie’s restaurant. The city purchased that building a while back and
decided it would be a great location to expand the adult literacy program.
The center has operated out of the
city’s library for years, but never really had a place of its own. Adults
wishing to learn to read, had to sit in a corner of the library with their
tutor. It was not always the most conducive place. READ MORE @
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