Reviewed by Tutor Monica Hawse, AACLC Tutor
I just finished reading an outstanding book which I’m sure other Literacy Council members would also enjoy. The book is a compelling story about how learning to read makes such a dramatic difference in a person’s life. Here’s my review; if you could pass it on to others, that would be great!
The Rent Collector by Cameron Wright is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is about Ki Lim and Sang Ly and their sick baby who live at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living by scavenging recyclables from the trash. It has all of the elements of a good read: well-developed characters that you soon grow attached to, a fascinating storyline, an education about a totally different and difficult way of life–and it also focuses on love, mystery, and the power of hope.
Cameron Wright is a wonderful storyteller; I loved his writing style. Although the book is a novel it is partly derived from Cameron’s son’s documentary of life in Stung Meanchey. A wonderful surprise awaits you at the end of the book, where there are photos of Ki Lim, Sang Ly, and baby Nisay, along with scenes of life at the dump. Somehow these photos made the novel even more meaningful.
I strongly recommend reading The Rent Collector–you’ll be glad you did.
Nineteen wonderful new assessors were trained on August 10th, 2013. A big thank you goes out to our trainers Phil Tawes, Judy Smallwood and Ellen Webster, as well as to Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park for graciously hosting this training session.
Assessors have a very important job at our literacy Council.
They are trained to give the Laubach Way to Reading (LWR)Diagnostic Inventory test to each new student. The purpose of the LWR Diagnostic Inventory is both to place students in the appropriate LWR skill book and to give the tutor a fairly detailed record of a student’s present reading skills. By profiling a student’s strengths and weaknesses in reading, the Diagnostic Inventory alerts a teacher to the skills that probably ought to receive special emphasis during lessons and to the skills that may only require relatively short periods of time for learning.
Once a volunteer completes our tutor training, they are eligible, and encouraged, to take our Assessor training.
“To me it is an image of people rising, helping themselves to achieve what they thought they might never achieve. It also speaks to the excitement that tutors feel when they are able to help their students reach their goals.” Jill York, Event Coordinator
Graphic art student Chanc Baylor has created our new AACLC logo! We love it and hope you do, too. A big thank you goes to Chanc Baylor, Mighel Jackson and Mike Busby for their important work on our new logo design, as well as to our dedicated Board members for their helpful input on this project throughout the summer.
Last year, we reported about a student being tutored by Deborah Ryan Johnson of Millersville. To read that article, CLICK HERE.
Deborah has been tutoring her student for four hours a week this past year. He is making excellent progress in his studies, has advanced several reading levels, has obtained his learners permit, and is eager to start driving!
This is why we do what we do…
We will have two tutor training dates to choose from this Fall! Both trainings will be held at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park. 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 training day. There will be a required October 26 Tutor Follow-On Workshop 9:00 am-12:00 noon, also at Woods Memorial.
Here are the training dates and the Follow-On Workshop information:
September 14 Tutor Training 9:00-3:00
OR
September 28 Tutor Training 9:00-3:00
AND
Required October 26 Tutor Follow-On Workshop
9:00-12:00
Class size will be limited to 20 participants for each training. If interested in either of these training dates, please email programdirector@aaclc.org or call 410-269-4419 as soon as possible to reserve a seat.
Twenty new tutors were trained on June 22nd, 2013. Special thanks goes to tutor trainers Phil Tawes, Dixie Catlett, Jae Sherwood, and Annette Graves for their excellent instruction and to Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church for graciously hosted our training. Thanks also to our dedicated Assessors who worked overtime to get our new students assessed so that they could be matched with tutors.
You don’t want to miss a single tweet from @AACLC. We now have 484 followers on Twitter! Here are a few samples from our 773 tweets so far:
Join us in one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs you could possibly do: become an AACLC Tutor!
The next New Tutor Training is Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 9am to 3pm at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, 611 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd., Severna Park, MD.
AACLC tutors change lives. Contact us now to sign up or get more information. There are lots of ways to contact us:
The Abilities Network presented AACLC with the Community and Employment Program Partners Award at their April 24th, 2013 Awards breakfast. According to Abilities Network Director Anisha Thompson “each office is requested to acknowledge an organization, employer or business that has been supportive and beneficial to the individuals we support. As I was thinking of whom to recognize, I immediately thought of the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council, an organization that has helped many of our individuals build upon their reading skills and so many other attributes.”
Pictured from left to right: Jack and Mimi Larkin, Lisa Vernon, Anisha Thompson, Harry DeLong and Christine Harrison.
