Literacy – Spanning North America :: Winnipeg MB ::Eastern Oklahoma Co OK :: Philadelphia PA :: Orleans Co LA

Literacy: Spanning North America

Adult Literacy Course Boosts Self-Esteem and Social Equality

Salvation Army Blog: 9.07.2017

Imagine, at age 59, being unable to spell boat, step or help. “It feels disgusting when you can’t read or write,” says Bob. “But now I’m doing something about it.”

Bob is a participant in The Salvation Army’s STages Education Program (STEP) in Winnipeg. The community-based adult literacy program is open to anyone with a low literacy level, usually below Grade 6.

“Literacy gives people a foundation where they have skills, self-worth and realize their goals,” says Carley, LEEP teacher. “Things they thought impossible become possibilities.”

The consequences of dropping out

As a teen, Bob struggled to complete Grade 7. “I was pushed to advance to the next level but felt I still needed a lot to learn,” says Bob. “I was frustrated, so I left.”

Over the years low literacy levels affected many areas of Bob’s life such as his ability to read his mail, help his children with school work or read instructions on a medicine bottle.

“I was at my last job for 15 years,” says Bob. “When they found out I couldn’t read or write, they said,  ‘Get out the door.’”  READ MORE @

Needs and Deeds: Literacy Link

News OK: 9.11.2017 by Alex Strohm

Words on a page or screen can be just that — words. It's the ability to comprehend that gives meaning.

Literacy Link is a literacy group in Eastern Oklahoma County that teaches reading and writing to adults 18 years and older with functional illiteracy.

Board member Lynn Hicks said she loved to read as a child and started as a Literacy =Link volunteer before eventually joining the board. She said teaching her students was a bright spot in her day.

“Anytime you can enhance an individual's self worth or their abilities to help themselves and their community, you're helping the whole world,” Hicks said. “It might start in tiny corners, but where else do you start?”

In a recent interview, Hicks spoke about how Literacy Link fills the gaps and encourages adults who struggle to read.

Q: What is the history of Literacy Link?

A: Literacy Link was established in June 1986 by a group of individuals who were dedicated to improving literacy in Eastern Oklahoma County. It started out with Frances Wester, a sociologist for the Department of Human Services, and Aaron Corwin, an active member in the Oklahoma State Library system. They held a meeting, and some people were interested. Literacy Link was incorporated that same year with a board, and they found a permanent location at the Midwest City Library.  READ MORE @

@Center4Literacy

At 46, this Philly woman learned to read - and then published a book

Philly.com: 9.14.2017 by Kristen A. Graham

At age 46, Wanda Steward was illiterate, and much of the world was a mystery to her.

At age 47, Steward is an author whose charming children’s story was read by actor Idris Elba as part of a global literacy campaign.

“It’s a miracle,” said Steward, of Southwest Philadelphia.

Steward always struggled in school. She tried hard, but reading did not come naturally to her. She tried to escape attention, never volunteering in class, but teachers would call on her eventually, and classmates were cruel.

“That took a toll on me — I didn’t forget it,” said Steward.

She showed up and did her work, typically scraping by with Ds every year — at Ferguson, McKinley, and Penn Treaty schools, and then at Kensington High. But by the time she had her first child at 18 and dropped out because she had no one to watch her baby, Steward still could not read.

Illiteracy complicated everything: How much water do you add to the mix when one of your children wants a birthday cake? What does that bill say? How much medicine do you give the child who has a fever?

“I would just put medicine in the cup, and give it to the baby and just pray that I did it right,” said Steward, who has five children.

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So she asked someone: Were there programs to help someone like her? Through the city’s Office of Adult Education, she was directed to the Center for Literacy, a city nonprofit that helps residents bolster their reading skills — a whopping 40 percent of adult Philadelphians struggle with literacy. By this spring, Steward was enrolled in classes at a center close to her home, an eager pupil who never missed class.  READ MORE @

OCALS

OCALS recognizes devoted volunteers

Daily News: 9.13.2017 by Virginia Kropf

An organization which started on a shoestring celebrated 11 years of success at its annual meeting Tuesday night at Millville United Methodist Church.

OCALS was founded by Don and Rose Ruck after they learned Literacy Orleans had closed its Albion office and it was brought to their attention that literacy needs in the county were not being met.

With only their own money and a few friends, the Rucks started seeking volunteers to build a new literacy organization in Orleans County.

They operated without a permanent home or a regular source of funding for several of those first years, relying on volunteers, money from family and friends and the generosity of local organizations which loaned them places to meet and tutor. READ MORE @