June/JulyNEWSLETTER | 2024 | | |
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Tomorrow is Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, which commemorates the day that Union troops arrived in Texas with news of freedom. 2024 marks the third year that Juneteenth is a federal holiday, and we encourage you, as fellow lifelong learners, to embrace the many opportunities for learning and celebration. | |
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A painting of Mt Ranier with trees and flowers in the foreground. (Maggie Hoy Studio) |
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Although there's still that lingering PNW nip in the air, it's official, summer is here! And we just wrapped up our spring quarter classes, which means we have some student projects to share.
As you know, our students are learning the basic skills they need in order to succeed in school, to find a job, to achieve life goals, and to create a better, more hopeful future. That means starting with the basics for our level 1 ESOL students, who were exploring the theme of health and wellness by writing messages to their teacher explaining their absence from class or describing photos as their final projects. For our ESOL Level 2-3 students, they are gaining the skills that allow them to share their story, an important part of creating a hopeful and connected future for themselves and their families. Mi Kyung, for example, shares her day-to-day adventures with her husband, her daily chores, and her many skills in her biography final project. For our citizenship students, gaining knowledge about American government allows them to better understand the place they will soon call home.
As students gain a greater understanding of the English language they are able to express themselves in ways that open new doors for them. Our level 4-5 ESOL students, for example, wrote essays about the effects of good sleep for their final projects, while our Reading and Writing GED students wrote about civic engagement. And although we hear it from students every day, it is nice to be reminded of another reason our classes are such an important part of our students' lives: it gives them a sense of community.
Our newsletter is bursting at the seams this month with exciting updates about our students, programs, and partnerships, so read on to find out what we've been up to so far this summer!
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Cat Howell
Co-ED, Educational Director
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Shira Rosen
Co-ED, Managing Director
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Student Spotlight: Pakistan to America Vlog | |
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Sumaira, a student in our ESOL 3 and computer class, has started her own YouTube channel: "Pakistan to America Vlog"! She uploads a video every day showing life in the US and talking about things such as doing laundry in the US in her native language, Urdu.
According to her computer instructor, Leesy, she "supports her classmates' learning and is an excellent role model of enthusiasm and participation in class. Using her digital literacy skills to create her own YouTube channel and her communication skills to spread the word here at Literacy Source are great examples of that."
You can subscribe or check out any of her videos here.
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Literacy Source in the Community | |
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University of Washington featured our partnership with them, where we offer classes led by Laura Kalmanson to custodians in UW Facilities’ Building Services Department.
"For some custodians, English in the Workplace gives them an opportunity for education they didn’t get growing up." Read more here!
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Puget Sound Now Podcast]
Host Bill Swartz recently interviewed our Co-Directors, Shira Rosen and Cat Howell. Hear them answer the question "If you are not able to read or write, how can you make it in life?" and more.
You can hear their conversation
here.
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Speaking at City Council
Shira, our Co-ED, spoke at Seattle City Council's Committee on Libraries, Education, and Neighborhoods last week. She is pictured here with Hamdi Mohamed, Director of OIRA, and Jessica Castellanos of KIND.
She shared stories of how the partnerships we build with our students transform their lives, from helping them to work through problems at work to supporting them to achieve their dreams of US citizenship.
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GiveBig THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for your support during our Big Give campaign last month. We raised $8,200 in donations to provide textbooks for our students. This means 105 students have their textbooks provided for this year!
Your generosity provides more than textbooks to students, it provides independence, stability and belonging. We are so thankful to have a community that recognizes the importance of adult literacy.
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AmeriCorps Farewell and Thank you!
We are sad to say goodbye and happy to say a huge thank you to our hard-woking and dedicated AmeriCorps members, Megan Allister (left) and Leesy Latronica (right). They finish their 10-month (1,700 hours) service with us next month and will be moving onto future endeavors.
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They have both been invaluable in helping us increase our service to students. Megan has taught both the ESOL 1, in-person and online Citizenship classes, and Leesy the Beginning Computer Classes. They have brought so much to their teaching, and we have enjoyed having them as active members of the Literacy Source instructional team. We hope they take away some valuable experiences and memories. We know the students and volunteers will miss them, as will we!
Thank you so much, Megan, and Leesy. We wish you all the best and look forward to hearing what comes next in your careers.
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We're excited to introduce you to our newest staff member, Katherine VanHenley. She joined our team as the DELN (Digital Equity Learning Network) Program Manager.
Katherine was born in Washington to a military family, moved often and had the opportunity to live abroad in Okinawa, Japan. She received her bachelor's degree in Film and Television Production at Chapman University in California and following graduation, taught English in Egypt...
To read more about Katherine, check out her bio on our staff page.
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Ready to engage further with literacy Source? | |
To make a difference in the lives of others | |
To invest in something that makes a lasting impact | |
To have a strong and thriving workplace | | | | |
