Five author book signings at the Book Fair!

September 10, 2012

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Saturday, September 15th, 10AM to 4PM at Barnes & Noble in Annapolis 

Come help us celebrate AACLC’s 35th anniversary!  

Simply mention AACLC at the checkout counter on September 15th and our organization will receive up to 15% of the proceeds from all sales of books, Nooks, magazines, music, toys, and café items. Last year, purchases totaling $4,000 resulted in a generous contribution of $650 from Barnes & Noble, and this year we’re aiming even higher.

With 30 new tutor-student matches being launched this fall, our needs are growing: Let’s see if we can spur more than $5,000 in sales! We’ll also receive 10% of any online purchases made during the week of Sept. 15-19, so all you armchair shoppers have to do is type in Book Fair ID# 10823003 before you make that final mouse click!

Flyers are now available to post in your workplace, neighborhood or on your community bulletin board highlighting the event and scheduled activities.  Please send me an email if you are willing to print and post a flyer or two!  I will send it to you in an email attachment.

Look for updates about the Book Fair on our Facebook page! Event will be at Barnes & Noble, Annapolis (2516 Solomon’s Island Rd., Annapolis, MD 21401)

We are looking forward to a great turn out!

Stevie Donahue,

sd@wisedonahue.com

Five local author book signings throughout the store from 1-3PM:

  • Angelique Clarke, Boomer Explores Annapolis (Children’s book)Rob Ballister, God Does Have a Sense of Humor (Military)
  • Mike Carter and Julia Dyer, Haunted Annapolis (Local Interest) 
  • Raymond McAlwee, Chesapeake Bay Stories (Local Interest)
  • Marc Waldman, Mighty Mac (Teen)  

We will also be giving away hourly prize drawings:

  • Gift cards for Barnes & Noble
  • Movie Tickets for Bowtie Cinemas
  • Starbucks Deluxe Gift Baskets
  • Gift Cards for Harbor Center Stores

Look for updates about the Book Fair on our Facebook page!

Plan to attend – and bring a friend!

Photo credit: “Male customer in bookshop” by Cathy Yeulet via BigStockPhoto

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Help us win the AACares challenge grant!

September 4, 2012

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AACLC to be “Nonprofit of the Week” for Education

Our Literacy Council will be featured as the “Nonprofit of the Week” in the Education category for Anne Arundel Cares Week!  Anne Arundel Cares www.aacares.org has created a state-of-the-art website with compelling stories about the excellent work of non-profits who provide direct services to residents of Anne Arundel County.

Three $2,500 challenge grants

As a result of very generous sponsorships by Capital One Bank and an anonymous donor, they will be offering three $2,500 challenge grants to the nonprofits which use the Anne Arundel Cares site to raise the most money during Anne Arundel Cares Week (Sept. 7-13).  The contests will be among nonprofits of similar sizes.  As of today, these are the nonprofits which will be competing with us for a $2500.00 grant in the organizations with annual revenues less than $100,000:

  • SPEAK, ArtWalk,  Anne Arundel  County Literacy Council, Londontown Symphony Orchestra, Friends of Jug Bay, All Children’s Chorus, Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary, Family Assistance Fund, Emmaus Center

We have a good chance of winning this $2500.00 grant.

Please ask your friends and family to support us at www.aacares.org from September 7-13!

Assessor Training for Tutors 09/04/12

August 27, 2012

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The next Assessor Training event will take place on September 4, 2012, at the Edgewater Library from 2-4pm. CLICK HERE for a map and further details.

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 12 hour tutor training, they are eligible, and encouraged, to take our Assessor training.

Photo Credit: “Adult Ed Students in Young” by Lisa F. Young via BigStockPhoto

Introducing Tony Ocasio, new student representative

August 26, 2012

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Tony Ocasio has recently been elected to AACLC’s board as its Student Representative

Tony is in the literacy program so he can improve his reading skills and improve his chances to advance at work. He has been married for 22 years and has two sons, Nicholas and Daniel. Nicholas is in his second year at Mt. Saint Marys, and Daniel is entering his senior year at Bishop Spalding. Tony has been employed at UMUC (University of Maryland University College) for the past eleven years as a utility mechanic working on boilers, pumps, electrical matters and plumbing problems. He just returned from an annual vacation with his family at Deep Creek.

Welcome, Tony, and thank you for your interest and support of AACLC.

New Tutor Resources Added to AACLC Website

August 25, 2012

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Volunteers, our Tutor Resources Page is the place to start when you’re looking for help.

Our website is a work in progress, but we’ve just added some great new resources for you. You’ll find links to them on the Tutor Resources page (See left sidebar of the website). Be sure to visit the Literacy Library, a list of links to sites and documents that will be terrific resources for you as you work with your student. As you find your own resources, please email the Program Director, who will whether to add it to the list.

As we add new items, we’ll put them on this page, so check back often.

Photo credit: “Work” by Elvis Santana, Hialeah, FL, U.S. via StockXChng

 

Sept. 15, 2012: National Literacy Week – Barnes & Noble Book Fair

August 25, 2012

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To celebrate National Literacy Week, we have partnered with Barnes & Noble in Annapolis (2516 Solomon’s Island Rd., Annapolis, MD 21401) for a day of fun and fundraising on Saturday, September 15th. Mention AACLC at the checkout counter, and our Literacy Council will keep up to 15% of the profits from your purchase, including, books, music, toys and Cafe purchases. We will also have special events and prize drawings scheduled throughout the day. Barnes & Noble has been a big supporter of our Literacy Council through the years and has recently donated books for our tutors as thanks for the good work we are doing in our community.

If you would like to help with this event, please contact Stevie Donahue at Sd@wisedonahue.com

Lending Library is up and running

August 24, 2012

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Hello  Tutors,

Our lending library of books for tutors is up and running!

We hope you will stop by the AACLC office, browse the selections for teaching reading, and check out materials appropriate to use with your
student.  Each book has a checkout card so we can track the books in use.

The office is located in Annapolis, at  80 West St., on the northwest corner of West and Calvert St.   There is on street parking, as well
as a garage nearby.

The AACLC’s small office, which contains the book shelves, is located  on the first floor.   The Dept. of Social Services receptionist can point you to the corner office.

  1. Please sign your name and date on the checkout card for every item you are borrowing.  There is a wooden box in which you may leave the cards.
  2. When you return the books, please do not return them to the shelf. We need to check the books in.  Leave them in the box specified for that purpose.
  3. There are supplemental materials which do not have check cards. 

Please feel free to use those, as needed, and return them later.

Much of our materials are from New Readers Press, and you can peruse some of the materials at http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=1200

Pat Mitchell, AACLC Literacy Librarian
115 Archwood Ave.
Annapolis, Md. 21401
pgm119@verizon.net
 
Photo credit: Sanja Gjenero, Zagreb, Croatia via StockXChng

Helping Your Student Write a Good Story

August 23, 2012

The success story (“How Being a Student Changed My Life”) in AACLC’s blog about my student Dwede was actually her own story, scribed by me.  She was willing for the Literacy Council to share her story with people in order to encourage more volunteers to be tutors.

We have been studying how to write an essay in preparation for the CASAS test at AACC (Anne Arundel Community College)  The guidance is to have:

  • an introduction
  • a closing summary a
  • two or three paragraphs in the body that have a logical progression

I wrote those headings on a blank sheet of paper, and we discussed what might be in each paragraph, but at a very high level.  Usually, Dwede wrote out her essay by hand, but for this assignment, she dictated it to me as I typed it into my laptop.  She read what I typed, then added in the part about her job because she felt that was an important part of the story.

This technique is very much like using a graphic organizer with “fill in the boxes” format to guide the writer.  Even students who cannot spell well will write a good story with the help of their tutor scribing for them, word for word, (could be either typing or hand writing) and it is encouraging for students when they can read their story back.

Dixie Catlett – AACLC Tutor

Illiteracy To Voting Citizen: Ullysses’s Story

August 23, 2012

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On November 4th, 2008, Ulysses Martin voted for the first time in his life. Ulysses was 57 years old. Ulysses and I have been partners in a student and tutor pairing for the past several years.

While Ulysses’s reading skills have grown much since he made the decision to learn to read, nothing has so signified how much he has progressed as voting in his first presidential election. With that single act, he crossed over barriers, both real and imagined, and signaled to himself and the world around him that he had achieved something important, something long hoped for, something precious that he earned for himself and no one could take from him.

As Ulysses’s reading tutor, I could say how proud of him I was as I watched him vote, and I am proud of him, but my greater feeling was the joy I shared with him at that moment.

If Ulysses’ reading skills are still developing, his knowledge of world affairs, his interests, and his opinions were those of a mature 57 year old man. We discussed and debated the campaign and news items of interest and importance. As the campaign progressed we discussed voter registration. Ulysees was not a registered voter. He had never been a registered voter. If you cannot read, you are often excluded from many of the things people who read take for granted. Registering to vote became a part of our reading lessons and getting that first voter registration card a mark of special achievement. Voting in the election itself became the next great mountain waiting to be climbed and conquered.

We made our election plans months in advance. On Election Day, after going to the polls and voting with my wife, I picked up Ulysses and his friend, Nadine, and drove them to their voting site. He truly enjoyed being there and the easy acceptance that comes from participating as a member of your community in this fundamental civic responsibility. He felt a part of something that he had forever been apart from. After voting, we went to breakfast, and Ulysses told me, “We did it, our vote counted!” I believe at some level, that remark revealed a deeper, more fundamental connection to a community that he has often viewed from afar. In registering to vote and voting, Ulysses closed that gap and rightfully took a place in his community that he had long hoped for.

Stan Milesky, AACLC Tutor

How Being A Student Changed My Life: Dwede’s Story

August 23, 2012

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My name is Dwede, from Liberia, West Africa.  I am married with two kids.  I go to school to learn to read and write better.

The hardest part of being a student is having children and going to school at the same time.  Doing assignments and studying makes me so tired.  I have to take care of the kids, do housewife work, cook, cleanup.  I like to do my homework early in the morning when the children are sleeping.

The good part of being a student is that I can read my bills, letters from my son’s school, read my assignment and understand it.  See the sound and understand. That makes me feel good and happy.

I work at a hotel where I am a housekeeper.  At work, you have to write down if you spend one hour in the room, or more than one hour, you write down why you spent that time in the room.  If you can’t write, then maybe it will not reach to the manager because she could forget.  If it is on the paper, then when she is doing the paperwork, she will see what you put on the paper.

I will never give up in life!  I just have to get my high school certificate for me and my children because it is good to read and write and to understand what you read and what you write.  It will make me able to get a better job.  It will make my children learn how to read and write and be able to do their own assignments by themselves.

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