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

Winter 2024 | Vol. 38 No.1

THIS NEWSLETTER IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF Emmerson (Ed) Chambers

Ed Chambers was so important to the smooth functioning of the Literacy Council from 1991 until his retirement from the council in 2019. Through the years he was involved as Treasurer, tutor, trainer and keeping us on track on the Board of Directors. Not to mention all the sundry tasks he performed: printing name tags and certificates...and being SANTA CLAUS!

 

Ed passed peacefully at his home on December 10 at the age of 97. His career included 28 years in the military from World War II on, earning numerous medals of honor. He held a more than 50-year tenure on the Board of the Sea West Coast Guard Federal Credit Union and was involved in various community services through the years. Mary Nash notes, “We have lost a lovely man who gave so much to our country, our community and his family and friends.”

In 2021 Ed was honored as a Lifetime Member of DVLC.

Save the date

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27 -

DVLC ANNUAL MEETING

11am to 1pm

Location: Good Shepherd Church, Fireside Room

        4000 Clayton Road, Concord, CA 

 

LEAVING OUR BOARD THIS YEAR

Several of our long-time Board Members are retiring from their Director responsibilities as of 2024.

Kris Torske – since 2001, tutor, President for 12 years, Tutor training Coordinator

Loretta Morrison – since 2007, tutor, Publicity Coordinator recruiting new tutors for us!

Mary Nash – 2014 tutor, librarian, Little Free Library steward

Rachel Sanborn – 2012 tutor, Hours Coordinator, Vice President, Hospitality committee, training, SANTA!

Qinghua Jin - a lifesaver for us when she responded in 2019 to our posting for a Treasurer on VolunteerMatch. Our then-Treasurer was moving away, and Jin was able to transition very smoothly into the responsibilities which are key to our organization. Now we urgently need somebody to step up to take Jin’s place. Jin is expecting her second baby and contemplating a move away from the East Bay.

Bruna Lewis - 2019 tutor, shortly joined our Board of Directors and, even better, became our Hospitality Coordinator for tutor training and other events.

Daly Young - 2019 tutor, shortly joined our Board of Directors and served as Secretary.

 

Many thanks to Roberta Spalding who joined DVLC in 2011 and retired in 2023. She tutored and served on the Telephone Committee for many years, faithfully routing messages to the appropriate parties. Also helped in spreading the word to recruit new volunteers.

Jill and Leo

DVLC Holiday Potluck – our first since 2019!


Tutors, English learners, family members, friends enjoyed scrumptious dishes and scintillating companionship on Saturday, December 2, in the Fellowship Hall at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Concord.

Potluck
Potluck

Our next tutor orientation will be in March 2024


March 2, 10:00 - 12:00 noon

and March 9, 10:00am - 1:00pm

The first session on 3/2 will be via ZOOM.  

 The March 9 session is in-person.

Fellowship Hall of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

4000 Clayton Road in Concord

Encourage your friends!

 

Cost: $20 registration fee includes dues for 2024

Please Consider these Board Positions


Treasurer - current treasurer is available to affect a smooth transition of duties.

  • Have charge of all funds and securities of the Council
  • Disburse funds as directed by the Board
  • Prepare financial statements that are needed for required reports
  • File annual reports


Secretary – takes minutes at monthly Tuesday night board meetings (Zoom) and submits them for review within a week of the meeting. Time commitment is about 3-4 hours a month.

Star

Good Report!


Kudos to Linda Northrup’s student, Moti, who passed the citizenship test. Linda reports that her student “is sooo excited and I am so excited for her. She worked very hard for this accomplishment.”

 

Jerry Kaplan reports that his student is progressing well. “His dedication to improving his English writing is very active and focused, too…[he] is a genuine inspiration to anyone who's ever struggled to learn, especially when it involves another language. It has been a privilege to be his tutor in this program.”    

Logging your Hours


Report Hours for October - December 2023

Thank you for shifting to the new Hours logging form. If you have not already reported all of your hours for October - December you may aggregate them into one report with a December date.

You can email

dvlc4esl@gmail.com 

or use the link that was emailed previously.

donate_now_prp_btn.gif

2024 Renewal Dues

Time to support Diablo Valley Literacy Council with your 2024 membership dues. 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.

CALENDAR

Check your email for updates.

January


DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tues., January 9, 7:00pm


DVLC Annual Meeting

Saturday, January 27,

11:00am to 1:00pm

Fellowship Hall

4000 Clayton Rd, Concord

February


DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tues., February 13, 7:00pm

March


ESL Tutor Training Workshop

Two Saturday Sessions

March 2, by Zoom, 10am-noon

March 9, in-person 10am-12:30pm

Fellowship Hall

4000 Clayton Rd, Concord


DVLC Board Meeting

Tues., March 12, 7:00pm

DVLC Directory

DVLC Officers:

President

Julie Kim

Vice President

OPEN 

Secretary

OPEN

Treasurer

Qinghua Jin, outgoing

Board of Directors: 

Publicity

Heather Haas

Librarian

Julie Kim

Student/Tutor Coordinator

Casey Liang

Tutor Training Coordinator

Ozge Altunoy

Website/Inbox

Lucy Goodell

Registrar

Apeksha Kamat

Tech Facilitator

Rachel King

Google Classroom Coordinator

Jill Walker

Hours Coordinator

Colette Becker

Newsletter Editor:

Kathy Anderson

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

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