Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bastrop TX :: Pleasanton CA :: Kingston NY :: Redlands CA

Literacy: Spanning the US

@LiteracyVolunt1

Bastrop Literacy Group Graduates First Class Of Future U.S. Citizens

Statesman: 10.11.2019 by Brandon Mulder

Miriam Rowe proudly stood before a small gathering in the Bastrop Public Library on Wednesday afternoon to receive her graduation certificate. Rowe had just completed several months of study in the Citizen Test Preparation Class.

All that lies between her and U.S. citizenship is a two-part naturalization test — the first part an English assessment that tests an applicant’s command of the language, the second part a civics test that gauges the applicant’s knowledge of U.S. government and history.

The test can be daunting to anyone seeking to become a U.S. citizen, but after the test preparation course provided by Bastrop’s Literacy Volunteer Board, Rowe — who lives in Cedar Creek after immigrating from Honduras 10 years ago — felt no intimidation.

“I think I’m ready,” she said.

Rowe was one of three students in the Literacy Volunteer Board’s new Citizenship Test Preparation Class, which the group rebooted this year after a nearly 10-year hiatus. It’s a small group, said the board's interim president Lilly Vara, but it’s a good starting point.  READ MORE >>

East Bay Senior Citizens Launch Program To Help Teach Immigrant Employees English

Mercury News: 10.11.2019 by Angela Ruggiero

When residents in a retirement community would leave notes for Claudia Gonzalez, the housekeeper often was not sure what they wanted her to do.

Gonzalez, who immigrated from Mexico, could only understand a little English. But now, thanks to an innovative program at the community, she can even decipher her 401(k) statements.

“I feel more comfortable, more secure, because I don’t need help,” she said.

Gonzalez, 51, works at the Stoneridge Creek senior living community, which has begun offering its employees a resident-driven program: free English tutoring once a week, and employees are even paid for their time. The tutors are volunteers — residents of the retirement community who are former teachers, engineers, pilots or have experience teaching English as a Second Language.  READ MORE >>

Ulster Literacy

Ulster Literacy Association Receives Commitment to the Community Award

Daily Freeman: 10.12.2019 by Ariél Zangla

The Ulster Literacy Association has received the Commitment to the Community award.

For the past nearly four decades, Ulster Literacy Association has been providing one-to-one learner-centered instruction to adults in the community to help them reach their personal and professional goals, Executive Director Cassandra Beam said.

"We train volunteers to become literacy tutors who are then matched with adults who can't read and write," Beam said. She said the agency has six employees and approximately 200 volunteers working to help Ulster County adults reach their goals, whether it's getting a driver's license, completing their high school equivalency degree, becoming a citizen, or learning to read to their grandchildren, to name a few.  READ MORE >>

@AKSmileyPL

Give The Gift Of Literacy — Become A Reading Hero

Redlands Community News: 7.19.2019 by Jan Fowler

Can you imagine for a minute what it must feel like to receive a beautiful birthday or holiday card and not be able to read it? Or to have children or grandchildren and not be able to help them with homework?

Or perhaps be unable to advance to a job in a warehouse because you can’t read the boxes?

Not only is our ability to read crucial to our independence and overall self-image, but has a profound impact on our ability to get a job and earn a living.

It may come as a shock to you, as it did me, that there are an estimated 32 million adults throughout the country who go through the motions of daily living hiding the fact that they can’t read. And while 32 million people need literacy help, only 3 million ever get it.

Locally, however, an Adult Literacy program came about at A.K. Smiley Public Library in 2010 under the guidance of Trudy Waldron and Katherine Gifford to help meet the needs of men and women in our town who are unable to read.  READ MORE >>