Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
Library's literacy program turning man's life around
Redding Record Searchlight: 8.04.2017 by Mike Chapman
A
Bay Area transplant has found a new life and a renewed purpose in Redding with
help from the Shasta
Public Libraries' Literacy Program.
Alonzo
Scott, 48, tells an inspiring story that reaches back to his days of drinking
and doing cocaine in his small San Francisco room to being tutored by a
Foothill High School grad half his age at the Redding Library with the goal of
earning his GED diploma.
"I
was sick and tired of drinking and drugging myself," Scott said Thursday
from his Redding home. "I'm glad I came here. I've met a lot of good
people and they gave me a chance."
Scott
found himself taking a bus to Redding after being notified that, following a
four-year wait, his application for Section 8 subsidized housing in the city
suddenly had been approved. He stayed at the Good News Rescue Mission until he
found a place to rent with his HUD voucher and also spent time at the library,
within walking distance from his home.
"I
started volunteering there (at the library) instead of hanging out
outside," Scott said. "I hit it off with most of the staff."
He
said Kayla Menne, the library's literacy coordinator, asked him one day if he'd
be interested in her program. Scott said since he didn't make it past the ninth
grade, he signed up and for two months he's been attending sessions to earn a
high school equivalency diploma. READ MORE @
Adults
Look to Get Their Diploma
Kittanning Paper: 8.07.2017
ARIN’s
Adult Literacy Coordinator Tammy Blumling takes a call about services available
to help adults get their diploma.
As
summer comes to an end, the focus turns to ‘Back to School’ preparations.
Students this year not only include kids, but also adults.
Tammy
Blumling is an Adult Literacy Coordinator for ARIN’s Center for
Education. She said her goal is to let the people of
Armstrong County know ARIN is available to service adults.
“We’re
trying to reach out to Armstrong (County adults) and expand servicing the
people because the issues here in Armstrong is (it’s) so rural. So a lot of it
has to do with transportation and consistency. The State would like to see us
run classes, but that is very challenging in a rural (area) because they don’t
always come. We have to be very adaptable. ”
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Thanks
to the collaborative effort of some local service providers, a new option for
those preparing to study for their adult diploma will be launched on August.
14. According to Blumling, this program is unique to Armstrong County and will
offer a blended approach to working with students by integrating both
traditional classroom lecture and web-based, distance learning strategies.
Scheduled to occur on Mondays and Wednesday at the ACCL, Blumling feels that
the additional site and instructor will enable ARIN to offer greater
flexibility for meeting the differing learning and scheduling needs of
students. READ MORE @
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Literacy
for all: From letters to wings
San Diego Union Tribune: 8.06.2017 by Jose L Cruz, CEO-San
Diego Council on Literacy
It
is ironic, or maybe not, that I have devoted my life to literacy. Like many
children, I had a rough start with learning to read. Wholly intimidated by my
first book in school, I made too many mistakes, and, at the age of 6, I keenly felt
what my teacher was thinking — that I was a bad reader, not smart and not even
a good little person.
Eventually,
though, I began to see the connections between the letters and the sounds they
made, and I started putting them together to make words happen, which was an
exciting discovery! I built upon what I had learned and, thereafter, needed
very little help.
Like
most children, I was in love with the Dr. Seuss books. My brother once brought
us a copy of “Green Eggs and Ham.” At home, we never had books of our own, so
if any found their way into the house, we were entranced.
I
made it through and became an enthusiastic reader — unlike too many of my
classmates. And too many others who came after me. They didn’t make it either.
The sad incidence of illiteracy was America’s best-kept secret. But eventually,
and happily, help finally came for those who had been left behind.
At
the San Diego
Council on Literacy, with our
partners, we are grateful for the opportunity to enhance the lives of so many
adults and children through literacy services.
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Today,
over 175,000 residents of all ages annually receive no-cost services from the
29 affiliated programs of the San Diego Council on Literacy. We are making a
difference and making more dreams come true.
Through
its support of the San Diego
Festival of Books, The San Diego Union-Tribune brings the
community together around our shared love for literature and the importance of
literacy. There’s never enough to say about how reading turns letters and words
into wings, helping us to fly through history and space, guiding us as we
navigate through this complex world. We would do well to join together to
ensure that fewer of us are left on the colorless ground looking longingly and
upward at how literacy, if mastered, could change our lives. READ MORE @
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