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Upcoming Dates
7/29 1pm-2pm - Info session for tutor pairs, LKC
7/29 6:15pm - Tutor Workshop Library Resources, Central Library
7/30 5:30pm-6:30pm Info session for tutor pairs, LKC
8/1 9am-1pm Back to School Fair, Boys and Girls Club, KCK
8/3 6pm-6:30pm New Volunteer Orientation, LKC
8/4 6pm-7pm
Community Outreach Training, LKC
8/5 2pm-3pm Community Outreach Training, LKC
8/6 4pm-6pm Ruiz Library Fair
8/6 6pm-7:30pm Sensitivity Workshop, LKC
8/7 5:30pm-9pm First Fridays!
8/9 11am-6pm Fresh Cut Fresh Start, 18th and Vine
8/11 6:30pm-8:30pm Rainy Day Book author event, Unity Temple
8/14 3pm-4:30pm Term 2 Student Celebration!, LKC
8/16 6:30pm-8:30pm Rainy Day Books author event, Unity Temple
8/17 6pm-8pm New Tutor Training Session #4-Part 1A
8/19 6pm-8pm New Tutor Training Session #4-Part 1B
8/20 6pm-7:30pm Tutor Turbo-Charge Workshop
8/22 9am-1pm New Tutor Training Session #5-Part 1
8/24 6pm-8pm New Tutor Training Session #4-Part 2A
8/26 6pm-8pm New Tutor Training Session #4-Part 2B
8/28 9am-1pm New Tutor Training Session #5-Part 1
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Literacy Kansas City
211 W. Armour Blvd.
Kansas City, Missouri 64111
lbraly
@literacykc.org
(816) 333-9332
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As you can see by our Upcoming Dates list, August is a busy month for us!
Literacy Kansas City relies on our wonderful volunteers to make our program a success! Please see if you are able to help us out with any of our upcoming opportunities. If you are interested in becoming a Tutor, make sure to sign up for New Tutor Training! We also have some Community Outreach Training sessions scheduled if you want to learn what to do at outreach events.
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We now have a google calendar for volunteer events and opportunities on our website. Look for it under the Volunteer Tab. On the calendar you will see current volunteer needs, training sessions, tutor workshops and upcoming activities. You will be able to sign up directly by clicking on the event.
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We have many dedicated instructors, tutors and students in Term 2 with several exciting successes!
Make sure to mark your calendars for the End of Term 2 Student Celebration August 14th from 3pm-4:30pm!
Join us for the Luau-themed party where we celebrate with student stories, treats and more!
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Learn more about what makes Emily Hane, our Programs Manager, tick!
Go to Article
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We are sad to say that August 14th will be our last day with Rachel Henderson and August 28th will be our last day with Patrice Gonzalez. They are part of the Americorps VISTA program.
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TUTOR TURBO-CHARGE
Thursday, August 20th 6pm-7:30pm
LKC Offices
CURRENT One-To-One Pairs:
All tutors and students who are meeting one-to-one should attend a
Ticket to Read Information Session to learn about the program and how it will benefit your student.
Dates:
Wednesday, July 29th 1pm-2pm
or
Thursday, July 30th, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Both sessions will be held in the Kansas City Room, first floor of the LKC office building. Please rsvp to
Emily Hane
Transition Training for pair tutors entering the new program will be held:
New Tutor Training
Under our new classroom model, tutors go through about 15 hours of instructional training and are asked to commit to a 12-week tutoring term.
Tutors are assigned to a small class and collaborate with a Literacy Kansas City Instructor and other tutors. Tutor assignments are based on student reading level and class enrollment. Your preferences on time and location of classes are considered when scheduling assignments, but are not a guarantee of assignment until final student enrollment numbers are in for that term.
During the term, the time commitment for a tutor is usually 30 minutes of collaboration time and 90 minutes of classroom tutoring two times a week (total of about 4 hours/week). Those who tutor for a weekend class will commit to 3.5 hours one day/week. Occasional absences are understandable and acceptable, but we ask that you commit to a 12-week term to give our students the consistency they need to learn effectively.
Term 3 is from September 8th - December 6th.
Our next New Tutor Training sessions are scheduled for:
Series 4 - Monday and Wednesday evenings, 6pm-8:30pm
August 17th - Part 1a
August 19th - Part 1b
August 24th - Part 2a
August 26th - Part 2b
October 5th - Part 3
Series 5 - Saturdays, 9am-2pm
August 22 - Part 1
August 29th - Part 2
October 10th - Part 3
(Please note that all parts of a training series are required)
Also, a required Tutor/Instructor Meet and Greet session for all Term 3 tutors will be held on: Monday, August 31st, 5:30pm-7pm
Contact Linda Braly to register for New Tutor Training
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If Emily sees a need, she jumps in and helps out. Whether it is finding a student a new pair of glasses, coordinating student recruitment events or making sure our classes are scheduled and organized, she is ready with a smile and a spreadsheet!
When did you start working for Literacy Kansas City?
December 2013
What is your favorite part of working at Literacy Kansas City?
I enjoy the extreme level of teamwork and collaboration at this organization. We definitely accomplish more together.
Where did you work before LKC?
Before working for Literacy Kansas City, I worked as the Administrative Coordinator at Reach Out and Read, one of our partner agencies. I've also run before and after school youth programs for the YMCA of Greater Kansas City, and I worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, Central Africa. In Cameroon I taught English to Francophone high school students and ran a vibrant girls' club focused on education equality.Before Peace Corps, I volunteered as a one-to-one adult literacy tutor for three years through a different agency, so I know how hard all of our students and volunteers work to reach their literacy goals.
What do you like to do outside of working?
Eating, chatting, reading, and traveling.
What is your favorite book? TV Show? Movie?
East of Eden by John Steinbeck is my favorite book.
What are you currently reading?
I'm currently indulging in my guilty pleasure by reading A Dance with Dragons from the Game of Thrones Series. Before that I was reading Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country.
What is your favorite animal?
I'm pretty partial to Cosmo, my parents' dog (who never gets in the bed, ever.)
Do you collect anything?
I love a good stationary set.
Where is the place you would most like to travel to?
Cameroon!
If you could ask your future self a question, what would it be?
I like to keep things a surprise, so I'd probably skip the opportunity!
What is something unique about you that we don't know?
I have a bad habit of impulse purchasing plane tickets. There are too many wonderful deals through my kayak.com app!
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We are sad to say that August 14th will be our last day with Rachel Henderson and August 28th will be our last day with Patrice Gonzalez. They are part of the AmeriCorps VISTA program, which helps non-profit organizations build sustainable programs to meet the needs of a community.
Patrice has worked on growing our new Family Reading Program and was instrumental in expanding class offerings, several successful Family Reading Day events, and planning other family activities such as attending Every Hero Has a Story and LKC's Free Day at the Zoo.
Patrice says, "My favorite part of working here was definitely the Family Reading Days. Seeing the parents and the children interacting in fun, new and exciting ways is always very interesting. I love to see them so engaged with the librarian. It just shows that they really care about their child's education and future. What I will miss the most will be my students. We have become very close and I have learned a lot about their personal lives. Especially, when we had our end of term student celebrations. Each student wrote a story of their life and read it out loud. Each story was funny and heartwarming. That made me realize what I was doing was making a difference and is truly important work."
Rachel has worked on our Ticket to Read Program. By Term 2, Rachel has our new learning model running smoothly and students are thriving! Rachel also went above and beyond to create a warm, fun atmosphere at LKC by organizing end of term student celebrations, creating Tutor Appreciation Week (complete with goodies!) and putting together the new student backpacks. Rachel used her creative ideas to help plan the LKC Free Day at the Zoo, organize a student recruitment scavenger hunt for the staff and much more!
When asked about her time at Literacy Kansas City, Rachel said, "
Literacy Kansas City is Changing Lives! When I look back on my time at LKC, I will look back on the amazing staff, the dedicated volunteers, planning student celebrations, networking with other community partners, but most of all I will remember the lives changed. The student that read their first book cover to cover, the student that filled out their first application online, the student who read a bedtime story to their child for the very first time, and the student that wrote their very first informational story. I have truly enjoyed having the privilege to hear these stories and to be a part of some stories. Literacy Kansas City is transforming lives and I'm glad to have been a part of that story!"
They both have greatly contributed to our success and will be missed! Rachel will be working as a VISTA for Kansas Mentors in Topeka and Patrice is in grad school. We thank them for all of their hard work and wish them much success!
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Students excel in meeting personal, civic and educational goals
Each term, students are asked to specify achievement goals. At the mid-term goal check-in, students had completed a total of 327 goals! Some notable achievements include 17 students obtaining employment and 38 students visiting the library. The number of students who were able to successfully complete a written form, like intake paperwork at a doctor's office, increased by 46% compared to mid-term check-in last term and we saw an 85% increase in the number of students who completed training programs. We are so proud of our students successes and are excited to see such growth!
Ticket to Read II students write about what drives them in life
Instructor Sarah Bell asked her TTRII students to respond to the following quote:
"What in your life is calling you? When all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? In the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons, do you hear it? Name it, if you must, or leave it forever nameless, but why pretend it is not there?" - The Terma Collective
Here are a few responses:
Perfection - Is there a better way?
Did you do the best you could?
The constant need to improve.
Did you help someone? Did you give them the best advice to your knowledge? Is this the best approach?
- Garrett Waters
To let go and just be - be free to come as you are, not me not thee.
But how every, I should be for what the world needs.
Can you see without looking,
hear with no reason to listen,
cause you know in your soul that it's right?
It doesn't matter if it's day or night, summer or fall.
It just feels right.
Time stands still
No reason for appeal.
- Fred Lewis
My mind never stops screaming my name.
Living is not just for you but for who created you.
Walking and talking is one in the same.
But will you choose to keep living your life the same?
I can't hide what goes on in my mind because it's written all over my face.
Sleepless nights are all I have because the Holy Spirit pulls and grabs, playing songs to right all of my wrongs.
For my mind never stops.
What in your life is calling you?
I must say its me calling out to me.
- Katrice Mitchell
Travel, Travel, Travel to see the many different (flowers) of the world, meet people of different cultures, costumes and understand how others live, work, play.
- Mary Thornton
Students are loving to read and eating zucchinis!
Instructor Becky Holst has been having her Reading Foundations A students turn in reading logs with the number of books read and time listed. Sherrian Robinson has logged 64 books and 14 hours of time!!! She started with the decodable books last session, moved to levels a and b at the beginning and now is reading level d. She is making great strides in her reading ability.
Dianna Drascovic is also logging in some books. Dianna has read 31 books and spent 7 hours doing that. She is reading at levels a, b, and c!
Sounds like Sherrian and Dianna have been bitten by the book worm! Great work!
Sherrian wrote the following about her experience at Literacy Kansas City:
"Hi, my name is Sherrian. I'm a student with Literacy of Kansas City program. I have been a student for six months and it has made a big change in my life. Starting with, I am able to understand what reading means to me. I am able to do the things that mean something to me. I am able to do things that I could not do on my own. I am able to sound out vowel sounds with the help of my teacher and tutors. I can sound out words and put them together. Putting words into ABC order has helped me read more on my own. I'm able to go to the library to pick out books on my own and fill out applications on my own. What a difference six months makes! Without this program I wouldn't have been able to do any of this. Literacy Kansas City is a very helpful program to me. Reading changes lives, our ticket to anywhere. Thank you all for helping me."
Becky also shared this anecdote about her class. "We were reading a book about "Country Places" We learned about a farm and the vegetables they grow. My students had never seen a zucchini, so I brought one in from my garden and I also made zucchini bread. I had 2 guys who didn't want to eat it at first. Their faces said, "OOOOOH vegetables in bread!!!!" Well I coaxed them into eating it and they both loved it!"
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We have several opportunities coming up for volunteers to help us reach out to prospective students and volunteers. I have listed the events and hours below.
We also will need help with Digital Life Skills classes and New Student Orientation for Term 3. Please click on links to sign up! Remember to also check the
Volunteer Calendar
on our website as new opportunities are frequently added!
If you are new to LKC or are not sure how to do an outreach event, they are easy and fun! We will give you tips on what to do and say! So sign up today!
We have scheduled two Community Outreach Trainings for anyone who would like to learn more about what to do at events.
Community Outreach Training - Aug 4th, 6pm-7pm or Aug 5th 2pm-3pm
Back to School Fair at KCK Boys and Girls club - Sat, August 1st, 9am-1pm We would like to have volunteers give out information to prospective students and volunteers during this event. Sign up here:
KCK Back to School Fair
Ruiz Library Learning Resource Fair - Thurs August 6th, 3:30pm-6pm
Help represent LKC at this community event. We will be handing out books and information to families. At the
Ruiz Branch-KC Public Library, 2017 West Pennway St. Kansas City, MO 64108. Sign up here: Ruiz Library Fair
Fresh Cut Fresh Start Community Event, - Sun, August 9th 10am-6pm Represent LKC at this great event near 18th and Vine. Volunteers will give out books and information to prospective students and volunteers during this event. Sign up here:
Fresh Cut Fresh Start
First Fridays - August 7th, September 4th, October 2nd 5:30PM-9:00PM Stand at our table near 19th and Baltimore. Help sell T-shirts, water bottles, and totes as well as hand out literature. Sign up here:
First Fridays
Rainy Day Books Author Events - August 11th 6:30pm-8:30pm and August 16th 1:30pm-3:30pm
Enjoy hearing authors speak while sharing LKC information at Unity Temple on the Plaza:
Rainy Day Books
Digital Life Skills Class Tutors/Assistants - Term 3, Multiple Dates and Times
at LKC offices.
There is no specific training for Digital Life Skills. You will be emailed a volunteer tips and expectations sheet. Sign up here:
DLS-Term 3
New Student Orientations - Term 3, Multiple Dates and Times
at LKC offices.
Sign up here: Student Orientation
Retesting L-TABE with students Multiple Dates and Times
at LKC offices.
Sign up here:Retest
Open Lab Monitor - Multiple Dates and Times
at LKC offices. Help students during the interim with continuin
g their studies. Also help with Lab drop-in hours for students needing help on the computers. Bring something to read to model good behavior as these are open hours for students and there may be down time. Sign up her
e:
Open Lab
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Although its summer break for KC Schools, The Family Reading Program has been busy with several events! Here are photos from a couple of recent ones:
Every Hero Has a Story - This event was put on by Mayor Sly James at the Sprint Center. Kids of all ages were able to meet firemen, police and other service heroes. They even provided a bus for Literacy Kansas City families to attend the event!
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On the Bus!
Tierra Lewis & kids, Victoria Estes & grandkids, Rachel Henderson and Patrice Gonzalez |
Family Reading Day at Urban Scholastic Center -
At Family Reading Days, children participate in multiple activities with a librarian and are able to take home several books to keep.
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