Sat. Nov 5 Tutor Training Class for new tutors, Adult Ed Conference Room at OPHS, 9am-3:30pm  

Last one for 2011!  

Sat. Nov 5 Belk Charity Sale, 6-10 am, all locations.

Mon. Nov. 21 & Tues. Nov. 22 CCLC office hours: 8am-5pm

Wed. Nov. 23 &Thurs, Nov. 24

CCLC office closed for Thanksgiving

Mon. Nov 28 CCLC Board Meeting, Adult Ed Conference Room at OPHS, 4pm

Sat. Dec 10 & Thurs., Dec 22 Gift Wrapping at Barnes & Noble

Gift Wrapping at Barnes & Noble

If you enjoy wrapping gifts, especially ones you don't have to pay for, join the CCLC Rapid Wrapping Team at Barnes & Noble to help on one of the following dates: 

Saturday, Dec 10  

Thursday, Dec 22  

Barnes & Noble provides the wrapping paper and tape; CCLC provides the man or woman power (and ribbon or bows to make it more fun); and the customers who want their purchases wrapped provide donations to a worthy cause. If you have a couple of hours to spare on either of those dates, contact Virginia Hash at (904) 298-2003 or Virginia.hash@uni.edu.

"I can't imagine how one could grow and prosper without the ability to read. Reading opens doors, truly."

When asked about challenges she faces with her students, Virginia says, "All of my students are very eager and they want to learn...sometimes it takes a little longer. English doesn't come easily as some think it might." She explains that the rewards of watching them grow--seeing that "aha" moment--makes everything worthwhile. "When that happens, when their faces light up and they get the point, then I'm just absolutely overjoyed. I'm just delighted that they have been able to grasp some of the concepts of English."

To new tutors or those facing a challenge, Virginia offers: try to be patient, creative and be willing to try new things, new ideas, new techniques.If something doesn't work it's okay, but patience and understanding are very important. "I firmly believe that anyone can learn." She adds that it takes trial and error; everyone doesn't learn the same way. I'm always open to suggestions and open to giving anyone help if they want it.

Virginia's student is Mengkry, a Buddhist Monk from Cambodia who came to the U.S. without knowing any English (except the alphabet). She's worked with him for a year and a half. In that short time he's learned to read and write quite well. He has made so much progress, Virginia definitely considers his self-discipline and study habits strong factors in his success. She respects and admires his ability to learn, especially considering his large workload at the temple where he ministers in Jacksonville. Yet he studies each day, and gets a ride to Orange Park twice a week for individual instruction from Virginia. 

Mengkry plans on staying in the U.S. and becoming fluent in reading, writing and speaking English.  

Not only does he have wonderful study habits, but he reads quite well, has good pronunciation and understands exactly what Virginia tells him.He wants to do well, so he takes notes of everything Virginia says and teaches him. We wish Mengkry continued success toward achieving his goals of fluency and conversational skills!

Special note: Virginia is a recent recipient of a "Certificate of Award" by the DAR National Organization--a well deserved honor for all the service she provides to our community, not only through CCLC but through various other organizations as well. Congratulations, Virginia!

BELK CHARITY SALE

Hats Off to Howard!

Volunteers like Howard Roberts are the brick and mortar of this organization. A former school teacher, Howard joined CCLC in May of 2010 as an ESL tutor. Within a few days, he accepted not 1, but 2 students, who happened to be brothers just arrived from Haiti. Howard's dedicated tutoring efforts were well appreciated during his first year as a volunteer. But we soon found out something more about Howard-that he is one of those quirky individuals who loves to tinker for hours with tedious computer code, and that he had the interest and the time to create a real live database for CCLC. We gladly accepted his offer, and he got to work.

After a few months and a gazillion hours, and perhaps an anxiety attack or two, Howard installed our first Tutor/Student Management System on our office computer October 6th! We are still in the process of updating information and working out the kinks with his dogged persistence, but this system promises to be a significant asset to CCLC and our recordkeeping efforts. Our utmost thanks and kudos go to Howard, along with our apologies to his wife, Penny. We trust that their household will soon be somewhat back to normal now that the brunt of the work is complete.