Literacy: Spanning the US
 |
English
Language Support Continues as Oakland Literacy Council Tutors Online
Oakland Co 115: 3.25.2020
OLC tutor Turesa Lewis thinks Zoom
videoconferencing is “pretty
straightforward” and has good options for virtual tutoring sessions.
Social distancing? Libraries closed?
What would that mean for the 200 Oakland Literacy Council (OLC) volunteer tutors who are teaching adults
throughout Oakland County?
For Turesa Lewis, it means doubling down
on her commitment to her students. Turesa, a Southfield resident recently
retired from AT&T, has been a volunteer tutor with OLC since 2014. Normally
she meets in person each week with her two students, one who is an advanced
English language learner and the other who is an adult basic education student.
Without the option to meet face to face,
Turesa is adapting and learning new technologies so her students can keep
learning. Turesa was one of over 70 tutors who attended recent OLC training
sessions to learn to use Zoom to meet virtually with students. READ MORE ➤➤
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 10
Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.
Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old
(Ninth to Tenth graders)
 |
Mariana Boliarova, Adult Learner in LEAF Program, Won
Southern California Library Literacy Network's "Writer to Writer"
Santa Monica Public
Library: 3.26.2020
Mariana Boliarova, an adult learner in
the Library's LEAF (Literacy
Education for Adults & Families) program, won the Southern California Library
Literacy Network's "Writer to Writer" contest with this letter to Sandra Cisneros.
She shared her accomplishment with acclaimed author Cisneros and received this
heartfelt response. Congrats to Mariana and her tutor Jialing Wang!
SCLLN Writer to Writer Awards ◯ 2019
Intermediate Category:
Winner
Mariana D
Runners-Up
German N
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Tanya J
Becoming by Michelle Obama
 |
Now More Than Ever, Everyone Needs To Read,
Says The Kalamazoo Literacy Council
Second Wave: 3.26.2020 by Mark Wedel
March 12: Michael Evans, executive director
of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council,
greeted me at their offices with a firm handshake.
March 13: A hand sanitizer greeted me,
with a sign requiring use before entering the lobby. Then Dorothy Kemp, a tutor
for the KLC, gave me an India-style hands-together bow. "I guess this is
how we do it now!" she says, laughing.
The world changed quickly while we put
together this story. It was going to be about the KLC's fundraising Scrabble
tournament, plus their efforts to improve adult literacy.
But due to COVID-19, the tournament is
postponed, and the Kalamazoo Literacy Council is trying to find new ways to
help adults gain literacy skills without face-to-face interaction.
Evans was making the decisions while we
met. This year would be the tenth for the Scrabble tournament, which has gone
from "a little thing, now it's at the Radisson Plaza," he says.
But to slow the spread of the virus,
such gatherings just can't happen. He sounds disappointed but determined when
he says, "It's not canceled, it's postponed!"
Evans is disappointed, but he has bigger
worries. The virus "is impacting our daily adult learning services."
KLC has 15 literacy centers, sites where
tutors and adult learners meet. They are in such places as the Kalamazoo Public
Library, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and
various other locations from community centers to churches. By mid-March, all
were in the process of closing for the duration.
"It wasn't even like that
yesterday," he says. "Wow, what do you do when you have something
that's like a global pandemic, impacting a community that you love? And we work
in a business of people," he says.
"We have to make sure our learners are
safe, our volunteers are safe, and we can do the best we can to guide people to
when and where they can study with us."
═════════►
"Literacy is part of everything we
do, and there are 25,000 adults (in Kalamazoo County), 18 and over, who
struggle to read. That's about 13% of our population in Kalamazoo County." READ MORE ➤➤
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 8
Reading Level: standard / average.
Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. Old
(Seventh and Eighth graders)
 |
Community Spotlight: Mid-State Literacy
Council
State College: 3.28.2020
With our community facing numerous
challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic, we are inviting any Centre
County business, nonprofit organization or agency to share their stories in
briefs which we will publish at no charge here on StateCollege.com. Share what
you'd like the community to know — what services you're offering, challenges
your facing, what you've brought to the area over the years or anything else.
To break the intergenerational cycle of
illiteracy, the Mid-State Literacy Council is a not-for-profit providing
essential adult education instruction and promoting literacy education in
Centre and Clearfield counties. READ MORE ➤➤
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment