Literacy – Spanning the US :: Birmingham AL :: Lansing MI :: Kenosha WI

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A Conversation with “Mr. Fred,” 86-Year-Old Learning to Read

WBHM: 11.01.2016 by Dan Carsen

Fred Oliver of Birmingham is 86 and a world traveler. He served in the Korean War, spent time in Japan, and has held more jobs than he can count. He loves to visit far-off places, but as we reported yesterday, his latest odyssey is close to home, at the Literacy Council of Central Alabama: he’s learning to read and write. Mr. Fred says he’s enjoyed the whole long adventure of his life, but the conversation starts on a sad note – losing a companion who’d helped him when life demanded reading and writing.

FALLEN BEHIND, BUT CATCHING UP

“All my kids are real educated — I’m the only guy that’s behind the times.”

EMBARRASSED TO SEEK HELP WITH READING?

“No. No! I’m not embarrassed. I’m a man. I ain’t no wimp out here … I’m trying to pull myself up … If you’re dumb and you want to stay dumb, ain’t nothing I can tell ya. There’s help out here. You’re not living in the 1800s. So get out and help yourself. If you don’t help yourself, you’re lost.”  LISTEN🔊

Capital Area

Literacy

Neighbors in Action: Capital Area Literacy Coalition

WKAR: 11.02.2016 by Katie Cook

For Neighbors in Action, we talk with John Leask of the Capital Area Literacy Coalition, also known as The Reading People.  LISTEN🔊

@KenoshaLiteracy 

Literacy Council addresses diversity through education

Kenosha News: 11.01.2016 by Ron Stevens, Guest Columnist 

As we enter the final days of America’s presidential election campaign, it would be easy to give up. So much negativity; so much pessimism about who we are and where we are going.

Sometimes I, like so many other Americans, feel like I need to take a shower after getting my nightly fix of presidential politics. How are we ever going to bring America back together?

When I begin to feel overwhelmed by cynicism and all of the problems that we as a country face, I need only look to the Kenosha Literacy Council to regenerate my sense of optimism. This organization, which helps immigrants assimilate into our country and city, is based on the premise that people are inherently good. For more than 50 years, the Kenosha Literacy Council has been helping people from more than 40 countries throughout the world speak English, gain American citizenship and find their place in Kenosha’s job market and community.

The Kenosha Literacy Council’s role has never been more vital. Many of the serious problems our country faces are the result of a lack of understanding of different cultures. Terrorism, bigotry and racism are byproducts of those differences that people fear. The Kenosha Literacy Council addresses those differences through education. It is helping to nurture America forward to a better place for our children and grandchildren by helping us to get to know each other.  READ MORE @