Literacy – Spanning the US :: Tucson AZ :: New York NY :: Joplin MO :: New York NY

Literacy: Spanning the US       

@LitConnectsAZ

Books, Gardens And Housing: Literacy Connects Is Building Community

Tucson: 3.11.2019 by Ann Brown

Literacy Connects is well-known around Tucson for its reading programs and tutoring services for children and adults.

But after finding a home in a vacant church and school, the nonprofit organization expanded its reach, helping to elevate one of Tucson’s poorest, most transitory neighborhoods.

"It's an example of synergy," says Tucson City Council member Paul Durham. Literacy Connects, 200 E. Yavapai Road, east of North Stone Avenue between Prince and Fort Lowell roads, is near the center of the Amphi Neighborhood in Durham’s midtown Ward 3.

Literacy Connects’ efforts to elevate the neighborhood coincide with those of Habitat for Humanity Tucson, the International Rescue Committee Tucson and the Amphi Coalition, he said.

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The neighborhood has a large immigrant and refugee population and a large youth population, with more than 60 percent of residents being under 18, the Habitat report said.

"Literacy Connects knew the demographic of the area and the high need for its programs," says Nancy McClure, first vice president of commercial real estate firm CBRE.  READ MORE >>

@HenryStreet

Literacy: Never Too Late

Chelsea News NY: 3.13.2019 by Brian Demo

The subject was Galileo. About a dozen students, young and older adults, read two paragraphs on the Italian astronomer and answered questions. What was the main idea of the passage? What’s a statement of fact, and what’s an opinion? There was a tangent: How did Galileo die? Some students took their time to read and speak, while others responded quickly. Lisa Diomande, their friendly, conversational teacher, kept pushing the discussion.

Diomande is the High School Equivalency (HSE) program coordinator at the Henry Street Settlement’s Adult Literacy Program, where she teaches reading, writing, and social studies. The HSE program prepares students for the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), which replaced the familiar General Educational Development (GED) test in New York State in 2014.. Diomande draws from living in Harlem and teaching English as a second language (ESL) at the YMCA there. “You have natives and immigrants who don’t have their high school diplomas,” she said. “I like teaching ESL, but I saw a greater need for high school diplomas — a broader and deeper need.” Her motivation is to help people become “active learners.” Strong reading and critical thinking skills, she said, help adults in every aspect of their day-to-day lives.

A Diploma Makes a Difference

The Henry Street program has three levels: HSE, for the students most ready to take the TASC; Pre-HSE; and Adult Basic Education (ABE), for students who need the most preparation. An HSE diploma carries significant weight. It can mean more job opportunities and higher earnings. According to 2018 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for people with high school diplomas was 4.1 percent, compared to 5.6 percent for those without. The same data also showed a nearly $200 difference in median weekly earnings between the two groups — $730 versus $553.  READ MORE >>

79-Year-Old Student Reading Better Thanks To Joplin NALA, A Literacy Nonprofit

Joplin Globe: 3.12.2019 by Emily Younker

Grant Bell pulls out a well-worn copy of Baxter Black's "Cactus Tracks and Cowboy Philosophy," sections of which are marked with clothespins to keep track of how far he has read.

In a sonorous, deliberate voice, he begins to read aloud from one of his favorite Black poems. It's something he could have only dreamed of for most of his life.

"It's unbelievable what I'm capable of doing today that I wasn't capable of three or four years ago," he said.

Bell, 79, is a student at Joplin NALA (Neighborhood Adult Literacy Action) Read, a nonprofit that offers classes to adult learners in literacy-related subjects including reading, writing, math and English as a second language. More than 30 million American adults can't read, write or do math above a basic third-grade level, according to information from NALA.

Locally, approximately 11,000 adults in Jasper and Newton counties lack the skills necessary to identify a location on a map, compare prices or fill out a job application. Nearly two-thirds of NALA's 150 students per year are adults from other countries who want to improve their English; the rest want to improve their literacy skills.  READ MORE >>

@LitPartners

Unreadable Books Campaign Redesigns Dan Brown and Angie Thomas Covers To Promote Adult Literacy

Forbes: 3.14.2019 by Rachel Kramer Bussel

New York-based nonprofit Literacy Partners has unveiled its 2019 Unreadable Books campaign, designed to raise awareness of adult illiteracy by displaying a dozen popular books bearing new dust jackets with the titles, author names, blurbs and all other text scrambled. In their campaign, This Chair Rocks by Ashton Applewhite becomes Thsi Rhiac Orcsk, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown becomes The Ad Viicn Oced, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas becomes Het Ahet U Evig and Oprah's Book Club pick An American Marriage by Tayari Jones becomes Na Anreicam Mgeriaar.

Now in its second year, the Unreadable Books campaign developed by Literacy Partners and its creative agency The&Partnership takes these familiar book covers and scrambles the text to give those who can read a sense of what it's like not to be able to decipher the words. According to the organization, one in five adults struggles to read.  READ MORE >>