40 Years of Success!
June 2023
Literacy Delaware Newsletter
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From the Desk of the Executive Director
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Dear Friends of Literacy,
As we celebrate our 40th year of empowering Delawareans through literacy, I am so proud of our growth and accomplishments both as we reach the end of this program year as well as over the previous 14 since I’ve been the organization’s Executive Director. I continue to evaluate our program offerings, always looking for changes and improvements. I reflect on the lives we touched, and differences made in those lives. Lastly, I reflect on our supporters and their continuous generosity. I am proud to report that our statewide screenings of “The truth about reading. *The Invisible Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight” helped us spread our message to over 300 Delawareans and included visits from Delaware’s First Lady Tracy Quillan Carney and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer.
It is with much sadness that I report that a very special Literacy Delaware supporter Janet Neville-Loper passed away in March. Janet was part of our very first class of volunteer literacy tutors, 40 years ago. Since then, she and her husband artist Edward Loper who passed away in 2011, have been active supporters of the organization in many ways, even lending their name to our prestigious Loper Award, recognizing individuals who like them were active supporters in many ways.
I will always be grateful for Janet embracing me as the new Executive Director and staying the course as a supporter as I navigated those first years. She was an example of lifelong philanthropy not only with her “treasure”, but with her time, and talent as well. I’m sure she would be extremely proud of how much our program has changed and grown over the past 40 years from just teaching basic reading to expanding services to include English language acquisition, digital literacy, math and, conversation groups to name a few, as well as the hundreds of learners who have improved their lives and the lives of their families through their work with us.
I count it as a privilege to have visited Janet several times at their home. I have fond memories of listening to stories about Literacy Delaware in the early years, and then answering questions about what is new, and my plans for the organization. I always left having had an art lesson from Edward as he proudly showed off the incredible artistic talent Janet had in her own right.
As summer begins, I hope you and your family have the time to relax and enjoy the long days and warmth of summer. We will be spending the summer getting ready to kick off our 2023 – 2024 fiscal and program year!
Cindy
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Welcome New Board of Directors Member Jaki Ortiz |
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As vice president of health equity, Jacqueline Ortiz, M.Phil. is responsible for leading Christiana Care's healthcare equity initiatives to identify, understand, measure, and reduce disparities in health and health care affecting the community served by the system. Jacqueline joined ChristianaCare in February 2012 with over 15 years of experience researching, teaching, and working in cultural competence, health equity, social networks, and economic sociology.
Prior to joining ChristianaCare, she led a firm specializing in the application of social network analysis to resolve organizational challenges, working in Latin America and the United States, in both public and private sectors. Jacqueline has consulted for Fortune 500 companies, the government of Argentina and multi‐lateral organizations like the World Bank and Transparency International.
Jacqueline obtained a B.A. in Sociology from Occidental College, an M.A. in Sociology from Boston College, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Yale University.
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PLEASE give the gift of LITERACY to our adult basic reading and English language learners! |
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Prefer to write a check? No problem.
You can mail your donation to:
Literacy Delaware
P.O. Box 2083
Wilmington, DE 19899
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Arsht Tutor Excellence Award - 2023 |
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The Charles and Rose H. Arsht Tutor Excellence Award was established in 2017, in memory of the Arshts, long-time residents of Wilmington and supporters of Literacy Delaware. The award is given to recognize a volunteer tutor who goes above and beyond in their work tutoring with us. The recipient’s efforts mirror the quality instruction we strive to provide. This year we recognize award nominees Donna Barbaro, Marlene Biddinger, and Phoebe Marvel, and the 2023 Arsht Tutor Excellence Award Winner Mary Dura! Thank you to these tutors and to ALL our tutors for all they do!
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Mary Dura - Mary spent hours helping her learner get his college records from Ecuador, then finding a translation service to provide the documents to his local community college for matriculation. Her work directly resulted in her learner enrolling in college courses-fulfilling a dream for her learner!
Donna Barbano - Donna is always been available to help out! She took on a Turkish learner without question (and she does not speak Turkish!) She has addressed new tutors on multiple occasions, helping to quell their concerns about tutoring. She has shown flexibility, creativity, great patience-and all with a smile on her face!
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Marlene Biddinger - Marlene has been tutoring two brothers from Mexico for over two years. In that time, both have expanded their previously non-existent English vocabulary. Her patience and creativity in teaching has enable both learners to increase their test scores by two grade levels!
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Phoebe Marvel - Phoebe has always been available to help any learner, any time she's been asked. Her assistance led to her assigned learner being able to fulfill his goal of buying his own car. Her patience, persistence and encouragement has given her learner the confidence to love reading and to build his English vocabulary.
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Fiscal Year '22 - '23 Special Donations |
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At times our donors recognize and honor someone special with their gift. We sincerely acknowledge the following such donations received during this Fiscal Year July 1, 2022- June 30, 2023 and thank you for recognizing your loved ones with your donation. |
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Rachel Waltz – in honor of her mom Carol B
Margaret Grotti – in honor of Beth Twomey and Charissa Powell
Pamela Hannna – in memory of Janet Neville-Loper
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RoseMary Bosso – in memory of James Bosso
Janet Stehl – in memory of Janet Neville-Loper
Tom and Barbara Russo – in memory of James Bosso
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We are so pleased that our tutors continue to encourage their learners to work on their writing skills, in addition to basic reading and English language skills. We are thrilled to share some recent writing samples from some of our wonderful learners.
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Submitted by Learner Juan José
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Submitted by Learner Alberta
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Truth About Reading Movie Reaches 300 Attendees |
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We are thrilled that over 300 attendees joined us as we hosted six screenings, throughout the state, of the documentary film, "The truth about reading.* The Invisible Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight." While the film illustrates the painful reality of life for individuals impacted by illiteracy, it also reminds viewers that the issue is not one that affects just a few struggling readers, but one that affects countless children and adults and weakens the very fabric of our society.
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Each screening was followed by a panel discussion comprised of Literacy Delaware learners and tutors as well as various professionals and experts in the field. One panelist, Kathy Seeman, a Dyslexia Specialist, spoke about the intersection of literacy and trauma. “We are traumatizing our students by not teaching them to read with the correct instructional methods. It is called Reading Trauma. Students who struggle to learn to read can and do experience PTSD at the same intensity of a combat veteran.”
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Every social issue we face today has its roots in low literacy. If we are working towards a more equitable Delaware, addressing the adult literacy crisis is paramount. Christiana Care held an open screening as part of its Health Equity Network Sessions. Greg O’Neill Director of Patient Family Education sat on a panel to discuss health literacy and spoke about the teach back technique used in healthcare settings. “Teach-back is a best practice for health literacy. It is very powerful as both an assessment of a person’s need and as an intervention to meet that need. Without teach-back there is no good way to measure someone’s understanding of their health.”
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We are grateful to the Corcoran Foundation for granting us the opportunity to show this powerful documentary and to raise awareness about the literacy crisis. This event would not have been possible without the support of Delaware Division of Libraries, Read Aloud DE, Reading Assist, Delaware Readiness Teams, the Delaware Literacy Alliance, Carl M. Freeman Foundation, the Delaware Community Foundation, Christiana Care, Sussex County Health Coalition, Friends of the Dover Library, and Walmart.
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In case you missed it, please enjoy this Facebook Live video created by New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer after the screening in Bear!
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SAVE THE DATE: Gals that Give Event for Literacy Delaware |
Literacy Delaware will be the beneficiary of a Gals that Give event on Wednesday September 27 at the DuPont Country Club. We invite you to join us for a buffet dinner, pick a prize auction, and 50/50 raffle. We are putting together 60 baskets for the auction. Money raised from the auction and raffle will go directly back to Literacy Delaware to support our program. These funds will allow us serve more adult learners in the state of Delaware.
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Interested in tutoring or know someone who might be interested?
We need YOU!
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We hope you are following us on Facebook and liking and sharing our posts to help us spread the word about the good work we do.Liking and sharing our posts helps get them seen.
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Please donate to help us reach more learners throughout Delaware! Thank you! |
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Prefer to write a check? No problem.
You can mail your donation to:
Literacy Delaware
P.O. Box 2083
Wilmington, DE 19899
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Literacy Delaware, Inc.
P.O. Box 2083
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