Teaching Adults to Read (Aired July 11, 2021)

Laura Lane, the Adult Literacy Connector for Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County, visits RadioRotary to describe the programs treating functional illiteracy in adults that are available from the volunteers of Literary Connections of the Hudson Valley. Functional illiteracy is more than just inability to read words- literacy is the ability to understand, evaluate, use, and engage with written texts in ways enabling a person to participate in society, achieve that person’s goals, and develop his or her knowledge and potential. It includes the skills needed to fill out forms and read instructions, not just to read or write and understand a sentence. The services of Literary Connections are free; the organization is supported by donations from individuals, foundations, and government agencies.  Listen to the program to learn about Ms. Lane’s own remarkable story as well as about the many services available to improve reading and writing.

Learn More:
Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley: http://www.literacyconnections.org/
Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiteracyConnections
Adult Literacy Programs: http://www.literacyconnections.org/programs-services/adult-literacy/
Resources for Literacy Connections: http://www.literacyconnections.com/
Functional Illiteracy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5102880/

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July 15, 2021 · Posted in Education, Hudson Valley, Literacy, Service Organizations  

Guatemala Literacy Project (Aired on May 30, 2021)

Rotarian Joe Berninger from the Rotary e-Club of Ohio Pathways joins RadioRotary to tell about a work that was called “the gold standard of Rotary projects” by past Rotary President Ian Riseley (2017-18)—the Guatemala Literary Project. More than 600 clubs from 80 districts have been working together since 1997 to improve education for underserved students in Guatemala. In that time, nearly 225,500 students have been made more literate—both for reading and in technology– through sustainable programs that are tested and proven to work.

Learn more:
Guatemala Literacy Project: https://www.guatemalaliteracy.org/
Cooperative for Education: https://coeduc.org/
Literacy Statistics for Guatemala: http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/gt
Rotary E-club of District 6600 Ohio Pathways: Rotary e-Club of Ohio Pathways

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May 30, 2021 · Posted in Education, Literacy, Rotary Club Projects, Rotary International, Service Organizations  

Literacy Connection Holds Spelling Bee (Aired February 29 and March 1, 2020)

RadioRotary interviews Literacy Connections Coordinator for Southern and Rural Dutchess County Marian Thompson and Book Bodies Coordinator Katherine Stikkers about the annual Spelling Bee. For 29 years the organization has raised money from sponsors of two-person teams who compete for the glory of best spellers. The money is used to help Literacy Connections in its principal effort, which is to teach adults how to read, as well as in its other efforts such as the Book Buddies program—adults reading to elementary-school students. The reading program uses a state approved tutoring program with trained volunteer to help adults gain reading skills and to tutor immigrants who have poor or no English. Although the program works all year long, the highlight of the year comes with the Spelling Bee, which in recent years has been at Marist College. Most teams are sponsored, often by Rotary Clubs, and can consist of high-school students or adults, but any two-person team can enter. The words are chosen from a dictionary and vary in difficulty. After a first round for points, the high-scorers compete until every team but one has been eliminated by misspelling a word (second chances are available). An audience is present just to enjoy the competition.

Learn more
Literary Connections of the Hudson Valley: http://www.literacyconnections.org/
29th Annual Spelling Bee: http://www.literacyconnections.org/spelling-bee/
National Spelling Bee: http://spellingbee.com/
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: https://www.mtishows.com/the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee

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March 17, 2020 · Posted in Arts & Letters, Education, Events, Literacy, Volunteers  

SUNY New Paltz Tutoring Reading (Aired December 7 and 8, 2019)

 

In the United States today, some 30 million adults are functionally illiterate, reading below the
sixth-grade level. RadioRotary interviews Sam Slotnick, the Literacy Center Coordinator at the
State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz), who works with with a program
that brings together teachers who are becoming specialists in reading with elementary or high-
school students with reading problems. For the teachers, it is part of their MS degree in Literacy
Education. For the students it is a chance to be in a one-to-one (or one-to-few) learning
program at a nominal cost. The program begins with a free assessment of reading for individual
students. Then about fifty to seventy students from around the Hudson Valley enter the program
for either a spring or a summer term. Mr. Slotnick offers this advice to parents: Read to your
children; read topics that interest the child; and take your children frequently to the local library.

Learn more:
Literacy Center at SUNY New Paltz: https://www.newpaltz.edu/literacycenter/
Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley: http://www.literacyconnections.org/
Master of Science in Literacy Education–SUNY New Paltz: https://www.newpaltz.edu/elementaryed/master-of-science-in-literacy-education/

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January 5, 2020 · Posted in Children, Education, Literacy, Youth  

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