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A monthly publication of
Whatcom Literacy Council | |
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| Greetings! |
Happy summer! It is lovely to see the flowers blooming (although a little more heat would be nice)!
I wanted to share a piece of good news with you all. A couple of weeks ago, we received an email from Joyce Eschliman, who is one of our volunteer tutors. She also works for US Bank. Here is an excerpt from the email she forwarded: Congratulations! You have been selected to receive the U.S. Bank Five Star Volunteer Award, honoring you as one of our company's top employee volunteers. On behalf of U.S. Bank, we are pleased to present you with this award, recognizing your time and dedication to Whatcom Literacy Council.
The Five Star Volunteer Award Program honors our most exceptional employee volunteers. In addition to recognition as an outstanding volunteer, you will be honored through a $500.00 contribution to the nonprofit organization cited on your nomination form and listed above. Clearly we were thrilled! Congratulations and a big thanks to Joyce from all of us at WLC!
It is always great to see our volunteers honored for the important work you all do. I know that it is not always easy to find the time and energy to tutor, but I also know how rewarding this work can be as you watch your learner make gains. Thanks for making the time and finding the energy to make a difference!
All my best,
Rachel Myers
Executive Director
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| Tutors - We Need Your Reports! |
Just a reminder to all of you wonderful tutors that we need to receive a report from you each month to keep us up to date on how things are going with your learner. Please take a few minutes to click here and send us a report on all of the good work you do!
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Monthly Tutor Primers |
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Tell your friends, colleagues and neighbors! Each month the Whatcom Literacy Council hosts a tutor information primer on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 5pm at the Bellingham Public Library.
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Program Views by Gina Barrieau-Gonzales, Programs Manager
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Our Pacific Northwest summer is officially here with the smell of wet flowers in the air! I'm positive, well hopeful at least, that July will bring heat and sunshine. Just in case the sun's rays get usurped for a while, think of us on a rainy day and spend a little time tuning up with some Verizon Thinkfinity Online Training. Tutors, take a moment to assess your learner's progress and think about what additional skills and knowledge you could acquire to be better able to assist your learners. Verizon has the best on-line training that I've seen as its courses address practical aspects of teaching adult learners in easy to understand terminology accompanied by practical guidance and suggestions. Verizon's content partners are comprised of some of our nation's leading educational organizations and their free online courses, podcasts and professional development reflect that. So please do get to a computer sometime soon and check out http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/TLN/courses
When you go to the above address be sure to skim the full list of online courses. The classes are topic based but also come with learner recommendations; meaning that Verizon may recommend a class that is more suited to beginner tutors, advanced tutors, and/or literacy administrators. If you are at a loss as to what to check out first, I'd recommend starting with Principals of Adult Learning. These courses are suitable for both our A.L.P. and E.L.L. programs and some address specific challenges in the respective programs.
As lifelong learning is a personal credo, I'll be delving into many of these online courses this summer starting with Culture and English Language Learners. I'll report back any new and useful findings. Tutors, let your program staff know when you've completed a course and if and how you will apply that new knowledge in your lessons.
Happy summer and happy learning!
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| Kudos to Classroom Tutors! by Jessica Hilburn, ALP Coordinator | |
 This year I am happy to report 23 WLC classroom tutors assisted 238 adult learners in reaching their educational goals! As many of you already know, classroom tutors work with learners in Adult Basic Education (ABE ) classes at Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College. This partnership has spanned 3 decades! WLC was informally organized in 1978 in response to a growing demand for instructional support in ABE classes. Today WLC's core program is the one to one tutoring model. However, classroom tutors are still needed and appreciated by ABE staff and individual learners. Marcia Leister an ABE instructor at Bellingham Technical College had this to say about the benefits of WLC tutors supporting the learners in her class "They (students) have passed their GED exams with tutor help. Their confidence in themselves has been increased enormously. Their sense of being supported and cared for is one of the most encouraging aspects of tutor work with students. Students' sense of being taken seriously and cared for allows them to take risks in their learning and to push themselves beyond the negative thinking and borders that surround them."
Not only do learners benefit from this experience, tutors also report that they are learning new things. Sharon Evans who has volunteered at BTC for 2 years writes, "Tutoring in this classroom has challenged me to continue to think about what I have learned with and from the student, tutors, faculty and staff at BTC... At the BTC Learning Center, I have made some wonderful friends and had some wonderful experiences... I am enjoying the challenge and learning everyday!"
Like Sharon many volunteers return year after year to the classroom because they have caught the "tutoring bug". I would like to acknowledge here our veteran tutors who are currently active:
Arline Fonda (7 years of service at BTC)
Kaye Dykas (7 years of service at WCC)
Bill Daugherty (6 years of service at WCC and BTC)
David Britton (4 years of service at BTC)
Dorothy Spencer (3 years of service at BTC)
Richard Schroeder (3 years of service at BTC)
Gerald O'Connor (3 years of service at WCC)
Also, thank you to the following tutors who have supported adult literacy in our community colleges this year (I apologize in advance if I have missed anyone, as there may be more of you out there... ):
Nancy Allen
Arne Ahlen
Logan Aytes
Dennis Barnes
Cindy Cole
Sharon Evans
Gayland Gump
Shari Halvorsen
Audrey Jaffe
Don King
Laurie Maxwell
Catherine McIntyre
David McGinty
Michelle McNamee
Erin Peach
Rod Preston
Harminder Singh
Jack Starr
Cheryl Terpstra
Amanda Villiott
Kudos to you ALL! |
Office Volunteer Wanted
| | We are looking for a volunteer to help us out with some data entry and other office work. Ideally we would like someone who could come in once a week for 3 to 4 hours to help WLC staff out with specific projects. This volunteer would need to be comfortable with a computer, and we would provide additional training on specific databases. If you or someone you know is interested in helping us out - especially over the summer - please email Rachel at rachel@whatcomliteracy.org, or call her at 647-3264, ext 101. Thanks! |
| Preschool Story Time is a Success! |
 Over the past 6 weeks, WLC volunteer Shannon Logan has been leading a story time at Village Books for preschool age children. The program has been very well received, and Village Books would like to partner with WLC again to offer the program in the fall. We would like to thank Shannon for all of her great work developing the curriculum, choosing the books, and leading the story time sessions. It is great to see kids developing literacy skills at an early age! |
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If you have any questions or need help, please contact us at 647-3264 or by email:
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