Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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| @durhamliteracy |
A passionate crusade to ensure literacy denied no
one
Herald Sun: 4.28.2017 by Bob Ashley
I had a fortunate childhood. My home had many
books, my parents were devoted readers, and there was opportunity and encouragement
from my earliest memories to read voraciously.
Heck, my parents were among maybe half a dozen
customers in the small town in northwestern North Carolina where I grew up who
subscribed to the Sunday New York Times, which arrived by bus on Tuesday or
Wednesday at Lamm’s Drug Store for us to pick up. I’ve read the Times since at
least junior high.
As one of the speakers at the Durham Literacy Center’s “Leaders in
Literacy” breakfast on Thursday put it, for me literacy came easy. That was
even truer for our son, who wasn’t just surrounded with books; he was nearly
buried in them. As I’ve said before, my wife, Pat, and I are such book hoarders
that we both have a copy of our high school advanced placement history
textbook. It’s the same book.
But life is not fair. Many young children grow up
in impoverished homes, homes rife with domestic tension, or homes where simply
making ends meet in a minimum wage job – or two, or three – leave little time
for reading, much less nurturing it. And parents in that circumstance who
themselves had little exposure to books or the joy of reading, as much as they
care – as virtually all parents do, I believe – about the welfare of their
children, may not see reading and literacy as the keystones to life success
that they are.
All of that – and more – is why the work of the
Durham Literacy Center has been so important since visionary volunteers founded
it in the 1980s. This past week, in one of the perks of my job, I had the privilege
to attend the center’s annual cheerleading/proselytizing/fundraising breakfast.
As always, it was uplifting even while reminding us of the enormous challenge
we as a community face.
The truth is, way too many of our neighbors have
not had the benefit of immersion in literacy, and the doors of opportunity and
enrichment it opens, effortlessly and without a second thought to those of us
who have grown up enveloped in it. READ MORE @
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20th
Trivia Bee raises money for adult literacy programs
Chicago Tribune: 5.01.2017 by Melanie Kalmar
A volunteer
gave Carlos Trujillo a gift that cannot be returned or exchanged. He taught
Trujillo how to read.
The
volunteer from Bartlett worked with The Literacy
Connection in Elgin, a not-for-profit organization that
teaches basic literacy skills to adults who never learned how to read and those
who speak English as a second language. Tutoring is one-on-one or in small
groups. Learners pay an initial $10 fee, which is waived for people on public
assistance, to give it "value," according to Karen Oswald, executive
director of The Literacy Connection. After that, the program is free.
Trujillo,
now a member of The Literacy Connection's board of directors, was paying it
forward Saturday morning by selling raffle tickets at the nonprofit's 20th
Annual Trivia Bee Fundraiser. Held at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, 21
teams of four competed by answering trivia questions that volunteers Jeanne
Rowe, Mary Sullivan and Chris Huege worked all year devising. More than 60 additional
people showed up to observe and purchase raffle tickets for prizes such as
tickets to a Cubs game and Broadway's "Hamilton," all donated.
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Trujillo's
literacy goals when he emigrated from Mexico to the United States in 1992
included learning English and going to school.
"A
friend from Germany told me about the Literacy Connection's one-on-one
tutoring," he said. "There was a 6-month waiting list. I called every
day. Finally, after 6 months, I got a tutor, Donald Ross. He passed away in
2002. He believed in me. Encouraged me. Got me a GED."
Trujillo
now holds an associate's degree from Elgin Community College and works as
"home school liaison" at Highland Elementary School in Elgin. "I
am the bridge between families who don't speak English and the school," he
said. READ MORE @
Project
Literacy celebrates 30 years in Watertown
Watertown: 5.01.2017 by Joanna Duffy
If there
is any doubt as to Watertown’s cosmopolitan character, one has only to look at Project Literacy, a program serving
hundreds of English language learners from more than 50 countries.
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The
program celebrated its 30th anniversary on April 30 at the Watertown Free
Public Library. Run through the library, the program connects English language
learners in Watertown to free classes, discussion groups and volunteer English
tutors, helping them to not only improve their English skills but to work
toward specific goals, such as passing a citizenship test or learning to write
a resume.
Watertown
resident John Millea, a veteran tutor with Project Literacy, was in attendance.
He has been working with students from Armenia and Russia since the fall, and
in the past has worked with students from Turkey, Brazil, China and Haiti. He
meets his current student at the library on Wednesday afternoons, and lately
they have been working on pronunciation and vocabulary, often by reading out
loud.
“It
energizes me,” he said. “Even after a long day, I don’t feel tired when I’m
headed to meet my student. I find it very rewarding.” READ MORE @
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