Literacy Source Newsletter

AugustNEWSLETTER | 2024

Tomorrow, August 9, is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Speaking a majority of the world's 7,000+ languages and owning or occupying nearly one quarter of land area, they are a critical part of our global community. You can find out more about the history and importance of this day here.

Welcome Note

As we kick off the 2024-2025 school year here at Literacy Source, we are excited not only for the year ahead, but for the opportunity to reflect on everything our students accomplished last year. Although all of our students hope to create a better life for themselves, their family, and their communities, their specific goals can be as different as the students themselves. We celebrate alongside them as they find employment, graduate from one ESOL level to the next, invite their community to get engaged in local politics, get their GED, open their own businesses, or become a citizen of the country they love. Each of these accomplishments serve as a reminder of why we believe so strongly in the work we do.

Our students are diverse not only in their dreams - we've run the numbers and we have some fun stats on just how diverse our community of learners is! Let's put you to the test to see whether you know the answer to these questions about our 2023-24 student body. (Answers below)

How many students were served in our programs last year?
What age was our oldest student?
Can you name three of the top five languages spoken by our students?
What percentage of our students identify as female?
How many countries do our students represent?

We still feel as passionately as ever about our diverse community of learners and we are so excited to undertake another year of learning and growth with you. In fact, we have a lunch and learn coming up soon - check out the information below!

In Community,

Cat Howell

Co-ED, Educational Director

Shira Rosen

Co-ED, Managing Director

1. 882 2. 90 years old 3. Spanish, Mandarin, Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromo 4. 72% female 5. 58

Celebrating Black Business Month

August is Black Business Month, and there's no shortage of ways to celebrate. You could patronize one of the many Black Owned Businesses in Lake City (Abay Market, Muller Salon, City Cafe, Thriftology, and our former student Senait's delicious Ethiopian restaurant, to name a few). You could celebrate the fact that Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the US. Or you could experience firsthand how one of our students is following her dreams of owning her own business.

Back to School Campaign: Support Asylum Seekers in our Classrooms

Our upcoming Back to School campaign will explore the journey that asylum seekers and refugees take as they pursue citizenship. In summer quarter alone, we registered 17 students who were asylum seekers, and we receive no government funding for these students. Our goal for our back to school campaign is to raise $25,000 to support asylum seekers in our classroom this year.

Donate Today!

Lunch and Learn: What's an Asylum Seeker?

We hope you'll join us for the launch of our Back to School campaign with a hybrid lunch and learn on August 19th from 12-12:45 PM to learn more about asylum seekers and the lack of support service funding they receive. This will be led by our Co- Executive Directors, Cat and Shira, and our Citizenship Program Manager Cory.

To RSVP and for more information contact: Staceyh@literacysource or join us virtually on Zoom. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82910644309?pwd=pkBe33dUkCAKsxHsKbYqCVpwUFupnf.1 Meeting ID: 829 1064 4309 Passcode: 033902 Keep an eye out for our email fundraising campaign that will start the same day.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jan K

This month we are excited to shine a light on Jan K as our volunteer spotlight. Jan has been tutoring at Literacy Source for 4 years, working with 5 of our lowest level ESOL students. We feel incredibly lucky to have a volunteer who continually demonstrates such patience and dedication.

To read more about Jan's many and varied interests and why they are a perfect fit for her work at Literacy Source, go here.

And thank you, Jan, for the amazing work you have done supporting Literacy Source students!