Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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Group
teaching English to Syrian refugees hopes to expand
San Diego Union: 3.20.2018 by Kate Morrissey
A
visual artist and professor who is originally from Lebanon is helping newly
arrived refugees learn English through a volunteer-based support group.
Teach and Learn Literacy, or TaLL, formed
at the beginning of 2017 to support an influx of Syrian refugees who arrived in
late 2016. Many couldn’t read in their native language, let alone speak or read
English.
Doris
Bittar, who organized the group as a branch of Syrian Community Network, a
local nonprofit, said that progress for many of the adults has been slow, but
she’s proud of what they’ve accomplished and how much of a community the group
has built.
“It’s
very gratifying,” Bittar said. “[The teachers] have bonded with each other.
They’ve bonded with the families.”
One
of the families that TaLL supports recently had a baby. The team of teachers
assigned to the family took turns staying at the hospital to help with language
barriers.
Since
the group began, it has helped about 30 families and is currently supporting
18, Bittar said.
When
members of the Syrian community began coming to the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee to ask for help for the new arrivals, Bittar, who
runs the San Diego chapter, decided she had to do something. READ MORE >>
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Love
of Literacy Lunch honors local learners
TC Palm:
3.23.2018 by Jessica Schmitt
Over a hundred guests gathered at the Vero Beach Country Club recently
to celebrate a Love of Literacy in support of the Literacy Services
of Indian River County.
The
event featured an engaging presentation by New York Times best selling author,
Michael Tougias, and awards given to volunteers and students. Don Mann was
awarded the Barbara Levere Outstanding Service Award for his dedication and
leadership as he served on the board for nine years.
Current
board president Michelle Servos described his impact on the organization,
noting the number of students served in north county has nearly tripled as has
the annual revenue. She stated that Don “created change through focusing on
planning, public awareness and fundraising…. Literacy Services would not be
where it is today without Don Mann’s efforts.”
Tatiana
Gonzalez was named ESL Student of the Year. She recently became a U.S. citizen
and set a goal of getting her GED with the help of her tutor, Claudia Haller.
Gonzalez addressed the audience and stated that being able to read and write
English helped her to get a better job and make her more comfortable in her new
country.
The
Literacy Student of the Year Award was given to Gary Williams who, at 60 years
old, decided he wanted to learn to read.
READ MORE >>
Council
seeks to improve community through literacy
El Dorado News: 3.28.2018 by Tia Lyons
Countless
statistics, surveys and studies have proven a direct correlation between low
literacy skills and mass incarceration, and the Literacy Council of Union County plays a
vital role in countering those stats in South Arkansas.
With
an acute understanding of how a literate, highly skilled populace helps to
strengthen the community, the SHARE Foundation made sure to include the
Literacy Council in its Violence Intervention Plan for 2018.
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At
the time, Michael Donnella, a member of the SHARE board, cited a grim fact that
says low-skilled adults are eight times as likely to be incarcerated.
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Locally,
26 percent of adults over the age of 18 in Union County do not have a high
school diploma and 6 percent of those have an education below the ninth grade,
per the American FactFinder, who compiled the information from the 2010 U.S
Census.
Amis
explained that the mission of the Literacy Council is to reverse those trends
by providing free instruction, through trained volunteers, for Union County
citizens who lack the basic skills for reading, writing, computer technology
and English as a second language.
Additionally,
the program offers classes on job interviewing and resume-writing and, when
possible, assists with completing employment applications. READ MORE >>
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