The written word changes people. It changes a nation.
We read, we discover, learn, and improve. Literacy changes lives by improving job prospects, health outcomes, civic participation, and the way that parents view their own children’s education.
Thanks to your donations of time, talents, and treasure, students such as Winston and Marc and others (See “Why We Do What We Do”) are improving their job prospects and achieving their literacy goals. You have made free, individualized, one-one-one literacy tutoring possible for a total of 183 adults in Anne Arundel County this past year, which includes 101 Basic Literacy, 29 GED/GED prep, and 53 ESOL students. Tutors donated 8,500 volunteer hours to their students and learning occurred at all 15 county libraries and at over a dozen county agencies. You are making a difference!
When reading a story where new words are repeated multiple times, my student would write the ‘hard’ words down in a list. We’d work on those words separately. Then she would read the story and each time she encountered the ‘hard’ word, if she could read the word correctly, I would put a check mark after the word in the list. At the end of the reading she could see that she’d successfully read a word that she previously didn’t knowmultiple times. That list really helped make her aware of all the progress she was making!
More Online Resources from the AACLC newsletter:
Think Aloud -a useful reading comprehension technique
Free games like crosswords or word searches that can be made from a custom list of words:
Everyday conversations involving a variety of settings; includes quizzes that test listening skills
Magic happens when one current and one former AACLC Student Coordinator work together to revamp our assessment training program. Their collaboration has resulted in a new and greatly improved assessment training format that is based on small groups of only 3 to 4 participants during each training.
JoAnn Cook and Judy Smallwood spent the month of June training our new assessors–those individuals who conduct assessments of prospective students’ literacy levels. Accurate assessments ensure that tutors and students can more readily hit the ground running when they begin working together. A BIG thank you goes out to both JoAnn and Judy for their hard work and dedication to this important project.
Our new assessors, in alphabetical order, are Mary Austin, Emily Clement, Phyllis Emmett, Sue Glover, Bill Harrison, Jill Lindberg, Jenny Smeltzer, Donna Truax, Lina Vlavianos, Katie Williams, and Marion Young. If you would like to take our new assessment training, please email JoAnn Cook, our Student Coordinator, at leitner56@gmail.com to sign up.
Meet Tony, our new Student Representative on the AACLC Executive Board, pictured above with his wife Elizabeth (right) and Tutor JoAnne Dement (left).
Tony has been married for 22 years and has two sons, Nicholas and Daniel. He has been employed for the past 13 years at University of Maryland University College (UMUC) as a utility mechanic working on boilers, pumps, electrical matters and plumbing problems. Tony joined the AACLC literacy program to improve his reading skills in order to advance at work.
Says his tutor JoAnne Dement, “Tony and I have been working together for just over three months. During this time I am not sure who has learned more. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussions we have about the magazines, books, and lessons we read together. We are also incorporating technology into our tutoring.” Tony has previously been tutored by AACLC tutors Charlie Catlett and Don Cully.
Story written by Nancy Lewis
They say the third time’s the charm, and with the help of the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council, Juan hopes to pass a critical entrance test next fall that will help him conquer the GED exam. Juan–a hardworking, motivated man–has grappled with the GED twice in the past, in the hopes that the degree would open the doors to a more satisfying life. Each time he faced daunting challenges that interfered with achieving his goal.
At age 13 Juan had to drop out of public school to help support his family. In spite of the fact that he put in long hours at a full-time job, six years later Juan managed to go back to school on weekends and eventually finished grades 7, 8, and 9. High school proved especially challenging, though, since Juan was required to attend school Monday through Friday during the day and then go to work each night to support his mother and six siblings. He took the GED test but fell short of passing by just a few points.
Several years passed and Juan once again focused on earning his GED. He took a test to enter the Anne Arundel Community College GED prep program but missed passing by a hair’s breath. Impressed by his dedication, the college representative recommended that Juan contact the Literacy Council for help and then try to take the test again.
Juan didn’t hesitate, and now meets with AACLC tutor Harry Delong four to five evenings each week. Together, Harry and Juan work two-three hours each time they get together. Talk about dedication! Not surprisingly, Juan intends to take the AACC GED program admission test once again this fall.
Save the date!
Our next tutor training is scheduled for October 11th & 18th, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, and will include both Basic Literacy and ELL instruction. We have a class size limit of 35, and our March training filled up quickly. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in attending this training, please email programdirector@aaclc.org, or call 410-798-0408 as soon as possible to reserve a seat. [THESE DATES ARE CORRECTED FROM THE AUGUST DATES POSTED EARLIER]
Tutor Jill Mischo & Deborah.
Photo by Zach Sparks
Anne Arundel Organization Tackles Adult Literacy
by Joe Burris,
The Baltimore Sun
Deborah Bias began taking adult literacy classes last August, and since then the Annapolis resident has vaulted from a kindergarten reading level to third grade, picking up about a thousand words along the way.
Her instruction comes courtesy of an individualized tutoring program from the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council, a nonprofit that has offered one-on-one coaching in reading, writing and spelling since 1977.
Anne Arundel County native Ada is tenaciously focused on obtaining her GED by the end of this year. Ada completed her reading assessment in July, and we were paired up and began meeting at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library in September.
Ada recalls that her struggle to read began back in the first years of elementary school. Early childhood illnesses caused her to slip behind her classmates,and she continuously struggled to catch up with her peers before she finally left Bates High School at age 16. Ever since, her work life–at the Naval Academy Mess Hall and Athletic Department, and most recently (from 2004-2013) at Georgetown East Elementary has kept her busy. Yet Ada has successfully juggled the demands of family life and actively participated in community and volunteer activities, too.
Perhaps even more impressively, Ada has remained a lifelong learner. She earned a bookkeeping certificate from the OIC program in Annapolis, and over the last four decades made three attempts to complete her GED–only to have each training program cancelled due to a loss of funding or transportation assistance. Undeterred, in 2012 Ada enrolled in the Anne Arundel Community College GED prep program at Stanton Center. She recognized the need to improve her reading skills, and contacted AACLC when she saw a flyer posted at the center.
“As for me,” says Ada’s tutor, Matt, Walsh, “I have a banking and real estate background and am in my second year volunteering with the AACLC. After many years of work-related travel, I had been looking forward to ‘staying put’ and contributing to our community. I tell friends that I never made it past the ‘A’s’ when searching a volunteering website; when I read the description of the work accomplished by the AACLC, I contacted Lisa right away to sign up for training.
“Despite our thorough tutor training sessions, nothing could have prepared me for the joy I find in learning with students like Ada. She always works ahead in our Laubach book, and often brings in GED prep assignments for review and discussion. While she remains modest and good-humored, her confidence is growing as she closes in on her long-sought GED. Simply put, it is a great honor to read with Ada and to call her my friend.”
Lee Wachter has a Masters degree in English from UV and has taught English for over 25 years in both public and private schools. She is now “following her bliss” as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor in Zumba, and specializes in working with seniors and individuals who are coping with the symptoms of MS.
She is also a tutor for the AACLC and has been working with a 20 year old young man who dropped out of high school after the tenth grade. Says Lee, “meeting twice a week and using the Laubach method prescribed by AACLC, my student is truly able to read fluently the materials provided with confidence. That AACLC provides all materials to students and tutors at no charge is amazing. The gift of the tools needed to learn to read truly enhances their value. My student and I are proud of his progress and look forward to broadening and refining his skills. I also cannot praise too highly the quality & quantity of support I receive from those in charge of AACLC: E-mails with suggestions for different techniques and new resources, seminars on specific topics, continuing training opportunities, and prompt responses to e-mail queries.”
Lisa Vernon
