Cindy Toft is changing many lives through literacy! On Tuesday and Thursday mornings she tutors two moms, from The Head Start Program at Shady Side, MD., who are working towards their GED. These moms are proud of the example they are setting for their children and are eager to improve their literacy skills so that they can get a job. On Monday and Wednesday evenings, Cindy tutors a Davidsonville husband and wife who would like to improve their reading and writing skills to get better paying jobs. In addition to tutoring, Cindy is also an active Student Assessor for the Literacy Council.
“Volunteering as a tutor for the Literacy Council has been a blessing in my life” says Cindy. “I have had the opportunity to meet adults who want to become a better person by improving their lives and they decided to give themselves the gift of reading. What I like most about being a tutor is watching my student’s face light up when a word they had difficulty reading suddenly becomes easy for them to read. I can see their self esteem growing and they are eager to learn new words and before they know it they are reading an entire story on their own.””I try very hard to give my students compliments on how well they are doing and they reward me by wanting to learn more. We try to make it fun and laugh during our session. If the student is relaxed then we are able to accomplish more with our lesson. The greatest gift I can give a person is helping them make a difference in their life and become a more independent person and this is what I have accomplished with the Literacy Council.”
Some people might tell you that books are no longer necessary now that we have the internet. Don’t believe them…
Books build bridges to the lives of others, both the characters in them and your countless fellow readers across other lands and other eras, and in doing so elevate you and anchor you more solidly into your own life. They give you a telescope into the minds of others, through which you begin to see with ever greater clarity the starscape of your own mind.
And though the body and form of the book will continue to evolve, its heart and soul never will. Though the telescope might change, the cosmic truths it invites you to peer into remain eternal like the Universe.
In many ways, books are the original internet – each fact, each story, each new bit of information can be a hyperlink to another book, another idea, another gateway into the endlessly whimsical rabbit hole of the written word. Just like the web pages you visit most regularly, your physical bookmarks take you back to those book pages you want to return to again and again, to reabsorb and relive, finding new meaning on each visit -because the landscape of your life is different, new, “reloaded” by the very act of living.
During January Jae Sherwood, Jeanne DeCamps, and JoAnn Cook will be entering our student and tutor data into the new database. We are fortunate to have their dedication and expertise at work on this big project, which once completed will help us compete for grants.
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.
If you would like to take AACLC’s tutor training, now is your chance! Our training will familiarize you with the Laubach teaching materials we use, and will cover both basic literacy and ESL instruction. Here are the details:
Class size will be limited to 35 participants. If interested, please email programdirector@aaclc.org or call 410-269-4419 as soon as possible to reserve a seat.
Happy New Year! A tremendous thanks to everyone who supported us by contributing to AACLC this past year. We realize that there are many worthwhile causes in our community and greatly appreciate that you choose to support the Literacy Council with your donation. Thanks to your support we can continue to help improve the lives of adults and out-of-school youth, while expanding our free literacy and ESL instruction program in Anne Arundel County.
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.
For decades, Bray covered up this fact. A coworker helped him with documents in his job on an Air Force base, and his wife helped him at home until she died in 2009. But last week, with the help of Northeastern State University professor Tobi Thompson, Bray read a book for the very first time. It was a grade-school biography of George Washington.
Above: Jae Sherwood, Data Manager, and Hank Zimmerman, Database Designer
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.
