Please join us from 8:30 - 9:45 a.m. on
Saturday October 15th for our first Literacy Council walkathon in over a decade. In addition to raising much needed funds, this will be an opportunity for you to get out in the crisp autumn air with friends and family and walk together to promote adult literacy in our county.
"Literacy Lights the Way" is the theme for the walkathon, which is open to all and will be held on the B & A Trail. Beautiful commemorative t-shirts will be included with registration for this event. Click here for your walk-a-thon brochure and to
Register before October 1 to guarantee a commemorative tshirt.
Our students determination to succeed is inspiring and "why we do what we do". Please also take a moment and read about two of those students - Deborah and Carlos, as well as meet our new GED and Basic Literacy Tutor Coordinators, Dr. Perinaaz Gandhi, Susann Felton, and Debby Turner.
Best regards,
Lisa Vernon, Executive Director
Anne Arundel County Literacy Council
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Annapolis Koons Toyota Wendell Williams handing Literacy Council Director Lisa Vernon their $5,000 Literacy Lights the Way donation.
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Exciting news! Annapolis Koons Toyota is sponsoring our Literacy Lights the Way Walkathon with a $5,000 donation. Please stop by their beautiful showroom at 1107 West St. in Annapolis to thank Wendell and his staff for their ongoing support for both the Literacy Council and for our adult and out-of-school youth students and tutors.
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October 15, 2016 Walkathon
8:30 - 9:45 a.m.
Save the Date
Beautiful Commemorative T-Shirts Included with Registration
Click below for your
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Deborah Oden and tutor Harry Delong
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Sometimes dogged persistence and a willingness to ask for help is all it takes to make the impossible possible.
When she lived in Baltimore,
Deborah Oden began taking classes to improve her reading, writing, mathematics, and computer skills. Her move to Anne Arundel County didn't stop her efforts to keep learning; when she contacted Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) several years ago she was referred to the Literacy Council.
Deborah was matched with her first tutor, Ray Davis, and advanced through Laubach 3, Laubach 4, and into the Challenger series. Just as impressively, she walked over a mile to and from the library--rain or shine--two times each week to meet with Ray. Unfortunately, though, knee replacement surgery unexpectedly made getting to the library logistically impossible.
It took a year to recover, but
by late 2015 Deborah felt able to restart her tutoring. Tutor Ray Davis had been assigned to another student while Deborah was recuperating, so tutor Harry DeLong began working with Deborah in January 2016.
And today Deborah is already reading and writing with greater ease and her spelling has improved. Because she enjoys interacting with and helping people, she's determined that a career in physical therapy (PT) would be a good fit. Deborah now aims to enter the assistant PT program at AACC. Deborah may have some work to do before she reaches that goal, but her new knee, sheer determination, and sunny disposition have set her firmly on the right path.
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Student Update
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| Tutor Leslie Clark and Carlos |
Carlos came to the United States from El Salvador in 1990, at the age of 17. He first worked in agriculture, went on to operate heavy equipment, and has been self-employed as a landscaper for the last 10 years.
Although Carlos received no formal schooling, he managed to learn how to read and write Spanish on his own, and just five years after he arrived in this country he decided to become fluent in English--using books to sharpen his conversational skills.
"That drive and determination has been on display ever since we started our work together," reports tutor Leslie Clark. "Carlos has already completed Laubach 1, is reading with more fluency and comprehension, and is making great progress with his writing. His patience and great sense of humor makes him a joy to work with."
Carlos himself credits his family with much of his academic success so far. His wife Ana offers lots of encouragement; daughter Kayla, a diligent South River High student, helps him tackle his English homework; and three-year-old Anthony provides perhaps the best motivation of all: He loves having his father read to him.
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GED Tutor Coordinators Dr. Perinaaz Gandhi and Susann Felton
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Please welcome GED tutor coordinators Dr. Perinaaz Gandhi and Susann Felton, who will be supporting both our tutors and our partnerships with Anne Arundel Community College's GED program and OIC.
As experienced GED tutors, Perinaaz and Susann will provide ongoing math, science, literacy, and test-taking resources as needed; track student progress; and lead GED tutor workshops throughout the year.
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| Debby Turner Basic Literacy Tutor Coordinator |
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Please give a warm welcome to tutor Debby Turner, who has joined Anita Ewing as a Basic Literacy Tutor Coordinator! Debby, who has successfully tutored numerous students over the past several years, will provide ongoing support to our tutors and assist in tutor training.
Here are links to a number of YouTube videos dealing with improving reading comprehension that Debby found online when searching for materials for her current student, Julia. The Kaplan videos for the ACT were Julia's initial favorites. She liked their clear and concise description of specific strategies to improve reading comprehension:
There are also additional links to websites that had materials applicable to the reading comprehension part of the TABE test, including sample test questions and answers:
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