March | VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER | 2025

Happy spring! Yesterday was the spring equinox, when the Northern and Southern Hemisphere receive roughly equal amounts of sunlight, so get out there and enjoy those longer days!

"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so

that those without a voice can be heard."

~Malala Yousafzai, Activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate 

As we celebrate Women's History Month, we recognize the incredible strength, resilience, and determination of the women in our community. We know that women have historically faced barriers, such as limited access to educational opportunities, workforce discrimination, and underrepresentation. At Literacy Source, we believe that education is a powerful tool in breaking down those barriers and creating equal opportunities for all, especially for those who have historically been marginalized. The work our students are doing in the classroom is a testament to this.

This quarter, our students, the majority of which are female, have tackled critical real-world skills: analyzing pay stubs, learning financial literacy, and writing about important moments in their lives. Our higher-level English learners have taken on global challenges through problem-solution essays based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while our Ready to Work classes explored career pathways and digital literacy. And in our GED Reading/Writing course, students combined science and literacy by growing, experimenting with, and even cooking with green onions.

These projects are more than just classroom exercises—they are steps toward independence, advocacy, and personal fulfillment. And YOU are such an important part of that journey. The partnerships you build with our students—the questions you answer, the support you give, and the conversations you have—help them navigate a world that often places obstacles in their way so that they can create opportunities for themselves, their families, and their community. Thank you for your continued support and dedication.

In community,

Literacy Source

We know that many of you may have questions about how to broach difficult topics with your students, especially in light of the recent changes in our government. In this short Q&A with Cat Howell, our Co-E.D., Educational Director, she explains Literacy Source's approach to Know Your Rights, including how it is being incorporated into our classrooms and how we are preparing our community for situations that may arise.

If you have more questions about these conversations or how to support your students, please reach out to Cat or your Instructional Adviser. For additional information and to see a lesson plan and feedback on how we are incorporating Know Your Rights into our classroom, please see the Teaching Tip below.

As we navigate these murky waters of immigration changes and challenges, we continue to stay vigilant at Literacy Source in our communication with our students. We have developed a KYR lesson plan and materials we are using in all classes. These materials align with resources and messaging available to everyone as a statewide community resource. We invite you to review the content in the lesson plan, particularly the tone and vocabulary so you can support the information students are getting in class when working with your student. One of our instructors taught the lesson plan in her Conversation Class and sent this report afterwards:

"I expected this to be hard and emotional for students, but for students to come out of the session with more clarity about their rights. And it was exactly that: some students were holding back tears, a couple were really upset, but I had a few students who were really grateful and felt better to know what their rights were. I think the Red Cards gave students something tangible and empowering to exercise their rights if they had to. I was really anxious going into this session, to even bring up the idea that ICE could come to our community center or to a student's house, that I would be creating the fear that ICE intends. I think it is important to ensure students know this information is available."

We do our best to ensure our students are safe at Literacy Source and hold ourselves accountable for informing and educating ourselves and our community about this important information. If you have any questions or need help with the information, please talk to your instructor or student's advisor. You may also contact Cat, our Co-E.D. Educational Director.

Spring Literary Mixer 

Thursday, April 3rd: 6:30-8pm

Please join us for our spring term volunteer appreciation event. It is scheduled for the week when we have no classes, so hopefully more of you will be able to join. We are excited to hold it in our new space. 

Please bring a book or book title that you recommend, to show and tell fellow volunteers. It can be any book, an old favorite, the only book you have re-read, one you are currently reading etc.

We will supply drinks and snacks! Hope you can join! 

Zoom Skills Trainings (online) 

Tuesday, April 1st from 6 – 7:30pm, OR

Friday, April 4th , from 11am - 12:30pm

Get ready for the Spring Term! This training is required for all new Classroom Assistants, online Conversation Partners, and online Tutors! The training reviews Zoom skills students need in their classes and how to teach them; it is a time for you to learn/review and practice these skills so you can assist students with troubleshooting. Please review the short training videos in the Google Classroom before the workshop, (you may have already reviewed the videos in the foundational training) you will have time to practice teaching the skills in the training. Topics include: screensharing, joining/leaving breakout rooms, using annotate tools, renaming and background effects (useful for privacy).  

In-Person Volunteers! This training will also cover how to login in from a student's Chromebook to the internet in the new space (it takes a few steps!) and into the Google Classroom. 

Please join the Zoom Skills Google Classroom to RSVP for a workshop and complete the Pre-Activity before attending the workshop. 

Experienced Tutor Workshop (in-person) 

Saturday, April 5th 10am – 12:30pm 

As you continue to work with your students, we know that questions come up and that each student has individual needs. With this training we are looking to review culturally responsive teaching, how using routines helps, demonstrate how to adapt class slides to meet your student's individual needs, and create a space where you can come and share ideas, get support for challenges and meet fellow volunteers. 

Training objectives: 

• - Learn how to adapt activities from student classes to in person or online tutoring, keeping in mind culturally responsive teaching practices and routines 
• - Create a space for tutors to bring questions, challenges, success stories, and meet other volunteer tutors. 

Please join the Experienced Tutor Training Google Classroom to RSVP for a workshop and complete the Pre-Activity. 

Questions? Contact Caroline 

Join us for our in-person Literacy Source Luncheon: Writing the Next Chapter. 

We have much to celebrate and would love to have you with us as we hear from several of our students and Will Durden, the Director of Basic Education for Adults in Washington State. We will also be joined again by radio personality Marina Rockinger, as our M.C. for the event. 

When: Thursday, April 24,2025 

Where: Seattle Mountaineers

Doors open at 11:30 the program is from 12-1pm.

Please register here and help us spread the word about this event!

Volunteer & Sponsorship opportunities:

• If you’re interested in volunteering at this event, please email analisaj@literacysource.org. We are looking for table hosts, greeters, those helping with registration, set-up, and tear-down, A/V, and more.  
• If you are a business owner, interested in sponsoring this event, please email staceyh@literacysource.org



If you don't already have a table, you're welcome to join Caroline's table!

Fruiting Bodies

Staff: Allie Azersky

The Book Eaters

Staff: Shira Rosen

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Staff: Laura Kalmanson

Be A Revolution

Staff: Britt McCombs

Girl, Woman, Other

Staff: Katherine VanHenley

The Woman in Me

Staff: Stacey Hastings

Moisture Festival

Friday, March 21 - Apr 13, Various Times, (Broadway Performance Hall, $10-$60)

The Moisture Festival’s mission is to enrich the community by presenting an affordable annual festival showcasing the art of live comedy/variety performance. The Moisture Festival encourages the contemporary creativity that is constantly emerging in this field and strives to educate people about the rich history of this genre.

Comedy/Variety is an intriguing assortment of entertainment. It is highly skilled performance mixed with many bizarre talents, often humorous, with no limit to the imagination. Presented as a variety show, each act or artist performs their routine within a 3-10 minute time slot while being accompanied by a live show band. Aerialists, jugglers, magicians, comedians, dancers, rope acts, bubble acts, clowns, acrobats, can can girls, strong women, strong men, tap dancers, drill teams, musicians, the weird and the wonderful—all keeping the tradition of Comedy/Variety Vaudeville alive.

Ganga to Kaveri: Dancing Tales of Indian Rivers

Sunday, March 23, 4:00 PM (Kirkland Performance Center, $30)

Ganga to Kaveri is a mesmerizing multi-disciplinary Indian classical dance production. It was conceptualized and produced by Mr. Churchill Pandian of Utsav Music, Chennai, India. This breathtaking production pays tribute to India’s most sacred rivers—Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, and Kaveri, and attempts to bring to life their timeless stories, cultural significance, and spiritual essence through the lens of dance, music, and storytelling.

Spelling Bee 2025

Sunday, March 30, 1:00 pm (The Great Hall, Town Hall Seattle, FREE)

Want to watch 80 middle-schoolers knock out words like psammophile, zwitterion, and schistorrhachis? So do we! The regional spelling bee brings together students from schools across King and Snohomish Counties who have already proven themselves to be fantastic spellers. This year’s bee will be moderated by Seattle Radio Theatre founder and KIRO Radio’s producer, host, and historian Feliks Banel. The winner will advance to the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Join us to support our outstanding students as they grapple with high-level language, and cheer them on as they try to take the championship in 2025!

Our next New Volunteer Orientation (via Zoom) will be on April 2 at either 1pm or 7pm. 

Potential volunteers are invited to register online here. 

Miss any of our past volunteer newsletters? You can access archived newsletters at the bottom of the Volunteer Resources of our webpage.