After 35 years of teaching French at Northern Virginia Community College, Susan Baldwin retired and moved to Williamsburg. She started tutoring at Literacy for Life in the fall   of 2007, and has worked with ESOL learners from China, Korea, Mexico, and Russia. In addition, Susan has been trained to administer the BEST Plus assessment to ESOL learners, and has administered several  pre- and post-assessments for our program."The BEST Plus training was wonderful", says Susan, "and I enjoy the opportunity to put the learners at ease when they come in for their assessment." Getting to know her learners and watching them progress is another aspect of tutoring that Susan enjoys. Although Susan has a background in teaching, she doesn't feel that it is necessary to be an effective tutor. What's more important is, "to be a good listener, be patient, and be encouraging to your learner."

 

Please welcome another addition to our staff, Mary Lynch. Mary has a long history with our program, dating back to when she volunteered here as an undergraduate student at William & Mary. She graduated from W&M in 1992 and earned her master's degree from George Mason University in 1996.  From 1996 to 1998, Mary  and her husband served in the Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea, where she taught high school English, math and science.  Mary's experience with adult education has included directing a Writing Center at Northern Virginia Community College; teaching English classes at NVCC and Thomas Nelson; and serving on the staff of Peninsula READS in Hampton.  Over the past ten years, Mary has worked as a consultant, trainer and instructor for Literacy for Life, most recently teaching ESOL at many of our offsite locations including AVID Medical, Child Development Resources, and La Tienda.  Beginning July 1, Mary and Barbara will be job-sharing the Program Manager position. Next time you are at Literacy for Life, please stop in and introduce yourself.

"HearSay with Cathy Lewis" is a locally produced, public affairs radio call-in program in Hampton Roads. Each weekday at noon, more than 52,000 listeners tune in to listen to Cathy and her guests discuss issues of the day. On Wednesday, July 14, Cathy Lewis hosted a discussion  on ways to increase literacy. Joan Peterson, Executive Director, was one of the guests.   Click here to listen to the podcast.