Diablo Valley Literacy Council Newsletter
Volunteers tutoring English as a second language (ESL) to non English speaking adults

Fall 2022 | Vol. 36 No.4

President's Letter:

Our tutor training on September 17th and 24th brought us 21 new enthusiastic volunteer tutors. We thought it would be easy to match each of them with a student since it seemed like our waiting list was much longer than our list of new tutors. However, as it turned out many of the potential students on our list were not responding to our efforts by email, phone, and text to reach them. It was harder than we expected to arrive at 21 students to match to our volunteers. Our Student/Tutor Coordinator, Jessica, was very busy solving the complicated puzzle of who could meet when and what were their preferences. Hats off to her for working that out on top of a full-time job!

 

Between now and the next training we will review our list of students waiting for a tutor and remove from our list any that have seemed to be unresponsive.

 

The Ice Cream Social following the second day of training included a drawing for a $50 gift certificate. Bill Ruano, a new tutor, was the lucky recipient of a gift card for various restaurants. We will include similar drawings in our future get-togethers.


As an added bonus, during the Ice Cream Social tutors could browse through 70 or so books donated for giveaway. These books were graciously given to us by Holly Sprague who served for many years as the Student/Tutor Coordinator and as one of our tutor trainers. Many tutoring-related books from Holly's large collection found new homes that day.

 

The Hospitality Committee did a stellar job of setting up the room the day before training, serving light refreshments, organizing the ice cream social, and leaving the Fellowship Hall spotless afterward. Thank you, Bruna, Rachel S., Julie, and Renaye, and to other Board members and two of the new tutors who helped with the Friday setup.

 

I have been super pleased with the efficient and thoughtful way Nora Lyang has handled her responsibilities as Tutor Training Registrar. However, her ambitions are likely to take her away from Diablo Valley next year, so we advertised for her replacement. We believe we have found a good candidate to succeed Nora and hopefully we can make an announcement in the next newsletter.

 

Coming up we will have a Holiday get together in December and Annual Meeting in January. In all likelihood those will both be Zoom events. Also, Rachel King is facilitating three monthly Tutor Drop-Ins by Zoom for the remainder of the year. More details in the body of this newsletter.

Lucy Goodell
President

Renaye

Mary and Lucy

Rachel

Tutor Training

The first day of tutor orientation was conducted on Zoom with Kris Torske moderating and presentations by Irene Mann, Jill Walker, Jessica Cope, Rachel King, and Lucy Goodell.

 

The second day of training was in the Fellowship Hall at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Concord. Renaye Johnson spoke about Cultural Awareness, Rachel Sanborn demonstrated some online resources, Rachel King addressed Social Media outreach and Drop-In Sessions for tutors. Rachel Sanborn also described how to use the Laubach and Side by Side Books and how to report hours to us on a quarterly basis. New tutors visited the library in Room 3 for Mary Nash to explain our procedures and show what books are available for loan or purchase. 


DVLC Tutors

Monthly Drop-in Sessions for Tutors – Check it out!


We began a new initiative last spring to create an opportunity for existing tutors to engage, and to share and learn from each other.  This virtual opportunity is a chance to learn some new tricks, discuss lessons or get to know your fellow Tutors! Each month we have a different guest speaker to introduce or refresh Tutors on a particular subject. The remainder of the time is spent as an 'open discussion' and a chance to share best practices or get some guidance from other Tutors.

 

The sessions in May, June, and July were well attended with over 10 tutors attending each. Jill Walker was the guest speaker for the first session and provided further insight into the DVLC Google Classroom, and tips on how to use this application with students. In June, Rachel King discussed the importance of engagement and understanding of our students, to be able to serve them effectively and help them recognize their potential.

 

Coming sessions tentatively include:

  • October 18, 7pm- Overview of Diablo Valley Literacy Council board participation and our current endeavors
  • November 15, 7pm- Adult School classes, what classes are available, registration, and general info

GOOD REPORT!

In addition to Trudy Foote, who consistently reports more than 20 tutoring hours each quarter, in the third quarter we had at least 4 other tutors reporting more than 12 hours of work with their students: Christine Benoit, Connie Forrest, Sue Clifton, and Jennifer Machado. Not all tutors have reported their hours yet, but thanks to those of you who were able to meet frequently with your student even during the summer months.

Consider these Board Positions!


Next year we anticipate needing to find people to fill the following positions:

 

1.     Treasurer (initially work side by side with the current Treasurer)

2.     Student/Tutor Coordinator – maintain the Waiting List and make the matches when a tutor is available for a student

3.     Training Coordinator – be one of the trainers in our Tutor Orientation!

4.     Publicity (local outreach to newspapers, libraries, churches and other local organizations)


We hope you will give some thought to filling a need in one of the above areas.

Good Shepherd office changes


At this time there is not an office manager at the church and therefore there are no regular Office Hours. If you need to sign out keys for the library, be sure you call ahead 925-682-8410 to make sure you will have access to the office in order to sign out keys for Room 3.

 

Until the church resumes regular office hours, you may arrange book returns and check-outs with Mary Nash or Lucy Goodell. (Contact information is in your tutor manual.)

 

Report Hours for

July-September, 2022


Don't forget to report your hours for the 3rd quarter: Tutoring hours and Non-tutoring hours (time spent for preparation, travel to student and workshop).


You can email

dvlc4esl@gmail.com 

or use the link that was emailed previously.

2022 Renewal Dues


If you haven't already done so, remember to pay your 2022 membership dues. It's a great way to show your support for DVLC, and we use the dues to pay for items needed to support our tutoring program.


Please use the DONATE button, visit dvlc4esl.org, or send check or cash for $15 to DVLC, 4000 Clayton Rd., Concord, CA 94521.

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CALENDAR

Check your email for updates.

October


DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tuesday,Oct.11,7:00pm


Drop-In Zoom Session

Thursday, October 17, 7:00pm

November


DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tuesday, November 15, 7:00pm


Drop-In Zoom Session

Thursday, November 18, 7:00pm

December


DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tuesday, December 13, 7:00pm


Drop-In Zoom Session

Thursday, December 15, 7:00pm


DVLC Directory

DVLC Officers:

President and Web Master

Lucy Goodell 

Vice President and Hours Coordinator 

Rachel Sanborn 

Secretary

Daly Young

Treasurer

Qinghua Jin


Board of Directors: 

Hospitality

Bruna Lewis

Publicity

Loretta Morrison

Librarian

Mary Nash

Student/Tutor Coordinator

Jessica Cope

Workshop Training Coordinator

Kris Torske

Registrar

Nora Lyang

Social Media Outreach

Rachel King

Google Classroom Coordinator

Jill Walker

Fundraising

Julie Kim

Newsletter Editor:

Kathy Anderson

Binder Coordinator

Allison Ridenhour

Diablo Valley Literacy Council | http://www.dvlc4esl.org

We'd love to hear from you! dvlc4esl@gmail.com Voicemail: 925-685-3881