Literacy – Spanning the US :: San Luis Obispo Co CA :: Henrico Co VA :: Portage Co WI :: Rowan Co NC

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.

@lflslo

Aspiring citizens need to master 100 questions, and a new class in SLO is here to help

SLO Tribune: 9.21.2017 by Nick Wilson

Marcia Bulger was a vice principal of a high school with 2,000 students in her native Brazil when she decided to make a life change in 2010 — leaving her family and friends behind to move to Paso Robles.

She had fallen in love with an American man, and they later married. But the relationship didn’t work out.

After discovering a new home in San Luis Obispo County, however, Bulger was determined to stay.

The people and culture of her homeland remain dear, but she likes the mild weather better than the muggy heat of Brazil. And she prefers the Central Coast’s low crime rate, friendliness and economic opportunities.

Now divorced and single with a green card and working as a caregiver, Bulger hopes to become a U.S. citizen and to be able to vote, calling life in America “a dream.” She has applied for citizenship and is taking the San Luis Obispo City-County Library’s weekly citizenship exam preparation classes.

“I am here now, and I want to stay here,” Bulger said. “America is in my soul.”  READ MORE >>

@TheREADCenter

READ Center offers free classes, training to low-literate people

Henrico Citizen: 9.22.2017

One in six adults in Metro Richmond has literacy issues, and the READ Center in Henrico County is working to address the issue.

Next week – Sept. 24-30 – is Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, a time during which the READ Center is shining a light on its efforts to help some of the 35,000 adults in the region for whom reading, writing and basic math remain an elusive target.

Adult literacy affects parenting, health, workforce development and poverty, and according to ProLiteracy, children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves. People with low skills are four times more likely to have poor health (two times the national average). The salaries of adults with below-basic literacy skills are, on average, $28,000 less than salaries of adults with proficient skills.  READ MORE >>

Portage Co

Literacy Council

Adult Literacy Program Proves It Is Never too Late to Learn

The Pointer UWSP: 9.26.2017 by Kirby Lichon

A local program here in the Stevens Point community is helping members of the community. Or in this case, helping adults that are looking for help in basic math or English literacy.

The Portage County Literacy Council is a nonprofit organization located on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus. The mission of the Portage County Literacy Council is to help Portage County adults develop the basic math and English literacy skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency and community integration.

The council has been around since 1986 and is located in Nelson Hall in room 209. It is run with the help of Executive Director Kristy SeBlonka.

Many of the adults in the program are immigrants and refugees who are learning English for the first time. The program also invites fluent or native English speakers who simply want to improve their reading, writing or math skills. They provide one-on-one tutoring and small group instruction for free to around 50 adults per year, with tutoring sessions happening up to two to four hours each week based on the individuals wants and needs.  READ MORE >>

Rowan Co

Literacy Council

For Literacy Council and United Way, volunteers are invaluable

Salisbury Post: 9.25.2017 by K.C. Scott, Exec Dir-Rowan County Literacy Council

A volunteer is defined as a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task; however, to small non-profit organizations, a volunteer is a hero.

Let’s think about this for a second. You have some free time, what do you do? Read a book? Watch some TV? Putter around the house exclaiming that you’re bored? That last one might just be my kids, but you get the point.

For many Rowan County residents, when they have free time, they volunteer. Many of our non-profits here rely on volunteers and simply could not function without them. =We’re one of those non-profits. Our volunteers are the backbone of our organization. We provide one-on-one tutoring for adults and kids who have low literacy skills; our students meet with tutors at least once a week, and our programs typically have no set end date. This takes an incredible kind of commitment, and one that we don’t take for granted.  READ MORE >>