February Volunteer Hours: 514 |
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School Year to Date: 4700 |
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"It's a bird, it's a plane...wait, what is it?" That might be what you're thinking when you look at the above blurred photo of our new logo. We are excited to unveil it at our 21st annual breakfast on April 4th, which is just a few short weeks away now!
It's also women's history month, and we are so proud of our female students in particular who have faced - and overcome - so many challenges in their lives. They continue to make a strong showing in our student population (82% of our students last year were female), eager to create a better life for themselves, their families, and their community.
Additionally, we are wrapping up winter term, and it has been quite a busy, full quarter! We'd love to share with you students' final projects from last term:
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English for Community Connections: Producing podcast episodes about community-related issues they find important.
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GED: Writing a reflective essay about how their thinking about science has changed while learning about bats, ecosystems, and food webs.
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Basic Computer Skills: Writing narratives using the skills they have learned (keyboard, mouse/trackpad, Google Docs, inserting images hyperlinks) in class.
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ESOL 1: Doing speaking projects in which they will present a visual poster of their wants or needs using the past and present tense, which they will present to the class on their final day.
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ESOL 2/3 class: Preparing for something: whether it's talking to a landlord, moving, or welcoming a new family member, students wrote about how they would prepare for upcoming events.
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ESOL 4/5: Conducting “Interest Interviews” with up to 3 people of their choice. Throughout this quarter, we have discussed the different types of social relationships and ways to improve social relationships.
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Citizenship: Doing presentations on biographies of historical figures.
From your experience with Literacy Source, you are likely aware of the many resources that are needed to facilitate our success in partnering with students to create a more equitable society. From the skills and expertise of our instruction and volunteer team to the much-needed funds that support our in-person and online classes, we meet students where they are and offer the kind of personalized, flexible support that allow them to thrive.
The breakfast is our biggest fundraising event of the year, so please help us to get the word out inviting your friends, colleagues and loved one - and if you haven't already registered, please do so! It promises to be a fantastic event, and we look forward to celebrating with you.
In community,
Liz Wurster
Communications Coordinator
Also: Reminder for tutors: Please log all student tutoring hours for this term by March 15th! : Tutor Hours Log.
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When Lusia Harris convinced her parents to let her try out for High School basketball, she never could’ve anticipated she’d end up scoring the first basket in Olympic Women’s Basketball history. Facing unprecedented hurdles at every step of her career, she broke records, made history, and changed women’s sports forever – and that’s just the beginning!…
This is just one of the 112 stories of women who conquer, astonish, and make history in the podcast "What'shername?" The creators, Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle, certainly fit appropriately with this year's Women's History Month theme: "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories." Whether recounting the tale of the most prolific poisoner in history or sharing the bravery of sisters who joined the nazi resistance - and assassinated Nazi soldiers in broad daylight, What'shername "tell the stories of fascinating women you’ve never heard of (but should have)." Enjoy!
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English Conversation Partners!
We are excited to be starting up the in-person English Conversation Circles at the Seattle Public Library - Beacon Hill Branch next term and we are looking for Conversation Partners.
Classes will be on Saturdays 10:30 – 12pm.
Term will be from April 8th – June 17th (No Class Sat. 4/27)
Please email Caroline if you are interested in this opportunity, and check out the Teaching Tip below to find out more about this class.
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Conversation Class: Safe Places |
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Many of you are familiar with the wonderful partnership Literacy Source has with the Seattle Public Library in offering online conversation classes. Carissa Hastings serves as the facilitator for these classes, overseeing a team of volunteers in guiding conversations around a variety of topics. Read on to find out more about how she ensures that her team creates a safe place for their learners. |
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Our conversation classes have this amazing ability to feel like a safe place where students open up and talk about the difficult things. Holley and Steiner (2005) Define a safe place as "a classroom climate that allows students to feel secure enough to take risks, honestly express their views and share and explore their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.”
While often it feels like this naturally occurs in our classrooms, this is far from the case. So how do you create a safe space when students just drop in every week like at the Seattle Public Library Conversation Circles or if you are one-on-one tutoring with a student you have known for a while? Here are some tips...
You can read the rest of Cari's teaching tip here.
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Upcoming Spring Trainings |
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Zoom Skills Workshops
Wednesday 4/5, 10 - 11am OR Thursday 4/6, 6 – 7pm (online)
New Tutor Training
Friday 4/21, 10am - 12:30pm (online)
Matched/Experienced Tutor Training
Friday 5/12, 10am - 12:30pm (online)
Click here for more info. |
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Congratulations - and thank you! - to the following volunteers for reaching a year of service with Literacy Source!
- Jan Slinn
- Bharat Wadhwa
- Analisa Joos
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We have three new citizen this month. They hail from Eritrea,Somalia and Morocco. Congratulations!
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Staff Reads: Celebrating Women Who
Tell Our Stories
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Wednesday, March 15, Doors: 6:30, Show starts: 7:30 (Moore Theatre, $35)
DakhaBrakha is world-music quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine. Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, Ukrainian «ethnic chaos» band DakhaBrakha, create a world of unexpected new music. Having experimented with Ukrainian folk music, the band has added rhythms of the surrounding world into their music, thus creating bright, unique and unforgettable image of DakhaBrakha. It will help to open up the potential of Ukrainian melodies and to bring it to the hearts and consciousness of the younger generation in Ukraine and the rest of the world as well.
Social Justice Salon: Equitable Eating
(Wednesday, March 22, 5:00pm, Free-$10)
Between bare grocery store shelves and skyrocketing food costs, the last few years have made it abundantly clear just how much we rely on a fragile global system that treats food as a commodity instead of a basic human right. But what if we had a local food system capable of resisting the forces of global trade while sustaining both food producers and those who now struggle to get the healthy, culturally appropriate food they deserve?
Solid Ground welcomes audiences to a community conversation with a panel of urban farmers, food justice advocates, Solid Ground program staff, and other leaders. Our panel will be followed by a Q&A session about what’s already being done to create a more resilient food system here in King County, and how you can support the innovative programs in place across our region.
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There is no NVO in April.
Our next New Volunteer Orientation (via Zoom) will be on May 3 at either 1pm or 7pm.
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Important Dates/Tutoring Schedule |
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Winter Term runs from January 17th – March 16th 2023.
Office Closed: No Tutoring: Monday, March 20th – Thursday, March 30th
Office Open for Regular Hours and Tutoring. No Classes: Monday, April 3rd - Thursday, April 6th
Office Open for Regular Hours, all Tutoring and Classes: Monday, April 10th
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Miss any of our past volunteer newsletters? You can access archived newsletters at the bottom of the Volunteer Resources of our webpage.
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Literacy Source acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral land of the Coast Salish people, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, Duwamish and Muckleshoot nations. Indigenous people are still here and continue to honor and bring light to their lived histories. We affirm Native American sovereignty and acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions of Indigenous people of Puget Sound. We acknowledge the ongoing disparities, racism, and political erasure they face today and pledge to donate, promote resources, and educate about the struggles of the Coast Salish tribes. We raise our hands to honor Chief Seattle’s Duwamish tribe of Indigenous peoples past, present, and future. |
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Literacy Source | 206-782-2050 | 3200 NE 125th St. Seattle, WA 98125 | www.literacysource.org |
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