Koons Annapolis Toyota gave the AACLC a $5,000 donation on December 14th as part of their 25 Days of Giving Campaign. The check was presented to Lisa by Wendell Williams, General Manager of Koons Annapolis Toyota.
Koons Annapolis Toyota has a strong history of giving back to their community and their generosity is having a big impact on Anne Arundel County. If you get a chance to stop by Koons Annapolis Toyota on West St. in Annapolis, please be sure to thank them for their incredible donation to the Literacy Council.
Pictured at left: Wendell Williams of Koons Annapolis Toyota presents AACLC’s Program Director Lisa Vernon with a check for $5,000.
9:00am-4:00pm on Saturday, February 22nd
and
9:00am – 12:00 Noon, Saturday, March 8th
at
Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church
611 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Severna Park, MD
Lisa Vernon
410-269-4419 (office)
410-798-0408 (home)
Our own Lisa Vernon, AACLC Program Director, is among six local leaders to be honored at the area’s 33rd Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 20th. She is the winner of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award in recognition of her work as director of the Anne Aruundel County Literacy Council.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, presented by the City of Annapolis Human Relations Commission, honors a person who exemplifies humanitarianism and
who goes beyond the norm to establish and maintain equality and fair treatment of all human beings. This year’s recipient, Lisa Vernon, is director of the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council since July 2012 and was the organization’s first tutor coordinator. She has given more than 4,000 hours as a volunteer to the AACLC since joining in September 2011. Under her leadership, the AACLC was awarded the 2012 and 2013 Top-Rated Great Nonprofit Award, achieved the GuideStar Seal of Transparency, was awarded the Abilities Network Community and Employment Program Partners Award, and was nominated for the William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award.
The guest speaker for the awards event will be U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, representative from the 4th District, which includes Prince George’s County and central Anne Arundel County. Proceeds from the event will support scholarships and help maintain Maryland’s only memorial to King, located on the Arnold campus.
Congratulations to Lisa for this very well-deserved honor. This marvelous recognition also shines a spotlight on the work we do here at AACLC, so we’re grateful to Lisa for that as well.
As many of you know, we’ve been working on a database that will allow us to track important tutor/student data needed to compete for grants.
The AACLC will soon have its new database up-and-running. Jae Sherwood, our Data Manager, has poured her creativity and talents into this sixteen month project, and has been working side-by-side with Hank Zimmerman, our database designer, to make this database a reality.
Our “J” Team (Jeanne deCamps, JoAnn Cook, and Jae Sherwood) will be entering our tutor/student data into this new system. We thank them for their dedication and hard work.
It wouldn’t happen without Bob Caspar, our Board President, who is financing this database. Thank you, Bob!
What does it take to be a successful volunteer for the Literacy Council? Lisa Vernon, AACLC Director, answers this question and others in an interview with Fay Mauro, Director for the Anne Arundel County Volunteer Center, during the Volunteer Voice segment at WNAV Radio on December 10th.
Click on the little triangle in the audio player below to hear this seven minute interview.
At first Sharon did not want anyone except her children to know that she was participating in a literacy program. Now she is actively talking about it and encouraging others in similar circumstances to contact the Literacy Council for help.
Reading was very difficult for Sharon, even in her earliest years of elementary school. As a result, she fell further and further behind in school until she dropped out at age 16 with little functional reading ability. Job opportunities that did not require reading were limited, so she concentrated on raising her family of six children, now ages 10 to 25. She also used her cooking/baking skills and love of children to become an active volunteer in her community.
But Sharon has other goals. She wants to get a job or open her own business focused on baking, child care, or cleaning services. She would also like to get a driver’s license and complete her GED. Finally, she wants to be able to write about her life and things that are important to her. When she found the AACLC literacy tutoring program, Sharon hoped that this program could result in the reading skills she needs to reach those goals.
Sharon and I started working together in mid-September. We meet twice a week for two hours at a time. Sharon started with Laubach Level 2 and moved through the material very quickly, completing Level 2 in two months and starting Level 3 right before Thanksgiving. For fun, we supplement the Laubach materials with recipes and cooking vocabulary as well as crossword puzzles, word find puzzles, and computer reading games, most of which I have found through the AACLC tutor resources.
Sharon is already taking steps toward her goals. In October she got a part-time job at the elementary school where she has volunteered for years, supervising children in the cafeteria during lunch periods as well as during evening PTA meetings. In order to get this job, she had to navigate the process of getting a photo ID from MVA and completing an on-line job application. Those tasks might have been significant obstacles for Sharon in the past, but she now has the confidence to tackle them.
I retired from a career as a pension consultant in 2013 and was looking for meaningful volunteer work. I am very happy that I found the AACLC and equally happy that I was matched with Sharon for tutoring.
Deborah Turner, AACLC Volunteer Tutor
Good news! Our next tutor training will be held at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park on February 22 and March 8. Our training will familiarize you with the Laubach teaching materials we use, and will cover both basic literacy and ESL instruction. We hope to match you with a student at the end of the second training day.
Saturday, February 22nd from 9:00 – 4:00 (CLICK for details and map)
AND
March 8th from 9:00 – 12:00 (noon) (CLICK for details and map)
Class size will be limited for this training. If interested, please email programdirector@aaclc.org or call 410-269-4419 as soon as possible to reserve a seat.
