DVLC Summer 2022 Newsletter

Diablo Valley Literacy Council Newsletter

Volunteers tutoring English as a second language (ESL) to non English speaking adults

Summer 2022 | Vol. 36 No.3

CALENDAR

July

No DVLC Board Meeting

Drop-In Zoom Session

Thursday, July 14, 7:00pm

August

DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tuesday, August 9, 7:00pm

Summer Get Together

Saturday, August 13

Ice Cream Social 1:00-3:00pm

September

DVLC Board Meeting by Zoom

Tuesday, September 13, 7:00pm

ESL Tutor Training Workshop

Two Saturday Sessions,

10am-noon

Sept. 17 by Zoom

Sept. 24 in-person

Fellowship Hall of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 4000 Clayton Rd, Concord

Check your email for updates.

DVLC Directory

DVLC Officers:

President and Web Master

Lucy Goodell

Vice President and Hours Coordinator

Rachel Sanborn

Secretary

Daly Young

Treasurer

Qinghua Jin

Board of Directors:

Hospitality

Bruna Lewis

Publicity

Loretta Morrison

Librarian

Mary Nash

Student/Tutor Coordinator

Jessica Cope

Workshop Training Coordinator

Kris Torske

Registrar

Nora Lyang

Social Media Outreach

Rachel King

Google Classroom Coordinator

Jill Walker

Fundraising

Julie Kim

Newsletter Editor:

Kathy Anderson

Binder Coordinator

Allison Ridenhour

President's Letter:

We welcome Julie Kim to our Board of Directors. Julie brings experience in one-on-one English instruction and was Head Instructor & Faculty Manager for a student education company in her native South Korea. Most of all she contributes a high level of energy and enthusiasm to our organization.

Speaking of high levels, in one month DVLC received 26 new ESL applications! 20 were from Afghanistan refugees, of whom 12 live outside our Diablo Valley service area. Other applications were from Venezuela, Ukraine, Russia, Thailand, Mexico.

The Afghans all seem to have been referred by a single rescue organization. Their applications indicated a desire for online classes. Diablo Valley Literacy Council is not equipped to handle online ESL classes and we will be communicating that to all the applicants who live outside our service area. However that still leaves us with an extensive list of local ESL learners for whom we would like to find individual tutors.

Our next Tutor Training will be September 17th and 24^th, so spread the word if you know somebody who might like to assist an English learner one-on-one. Volunteers can sign up to attend the training on our web-site dvlc4esl.org.

I hope to see many of you at our Summer Get Together on August 13. Come for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate in our drawing. All attendees will be entered. Details for the event below.

Happy summer!

Lucy Goodell

President

Monthly Tutor Drop-In Sessions on Zoom

In May, we began a trial of a new initiative to create an opportunity for existing tutors to engage, and to share and learn from each other. This virtual opportunity is a chance to learn some new tricks, discuss lessons or get to know your fellow Tutors! Each month we have a different guest speaker to introduce or refresh Tutors on a particular subject. The remainder of the time is spent as an 'open discussion' and a chance to share best practices or get some guidance from other Tutors.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82148452667?pwd=SXlmSG9IZ2FrbWhFeFpsNk1xdmtYQT09

Meeting ID: 821 4845 2667

Passcode: DVLC123

The sessions in May and June were well attended with over 10 tutors attending each. Jill Walker was the guest speaker for the first session and provided further insight into the DVLC Google Classroom, and tips on how to use this application with students. In June, Rachel King discussed the importance of engagement and understanding of our students, to be able to serve them effectively and help them recognize their potential.

The last planned session will take place on Thursday July 14th at 7pm. Feel free to join us and listen, share and learn.

Summer Tutor Get Together

Outdoor Ice Cream Social

Saturday, August 13, 2022

1pm to 3pm

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

4000 Clayton Road in Concord

Create and enjoy your own Ice Cream Sundae while…

Getting to know your fellow tutors
Sharing experiences, questions and ideas as a tutor

All attendees will receive one complimentary raffle ticket for a

$50 gift card

Additional tickets will be sold for $1 each or 6 for $5

All monies support DVLC

Next Tutor Training - spread the word!

We need tutors who can commit to 1 or 2 hours of tutoring per week on a regular basis.

We provide training, match you to a student and help start your 1-on-1 tutoring.

Our next tutor orientation will be in the fall

September 17 (via Zoom)

and September 24 at 4000 Clayton Rd in Concord

Two Saturday sessions must be attended

Cost: $20 registration fee includes dues for 2022

For more information or to sign up select menu option VOLUNTEER TO TUTOR

Alternatively you may leave a message at (925) 685-3881 or email dvlc4esl@gmail.com

GOOD REPORT!

One of our newest tutors, Penny Ittner, has been tutoring an Afghan woman who is just learning English. The woman and husband and five children left Afghanistan when all the planes took off from Kabul last August. Hats off to Penny who has completed the Laubach Introductory unit with her student.

Penny gave her student a Certificate of Progress to celebrate how far they have come. When Penny presented the award she said she would like to take a picture of her student with the certificate. In the tutor’s words: “…she suddenly conversed quickly with her daughter and then ran out of the room. I thought, OMG, what happened? Her daughter said she just wanted to quickly change clothes into something nicer for the photo. She was thrilled to get it.”

Two other of our newest tutors are arranging to have a table set up at a Friday Farmers Market in Rossmoor to attract new volunteers since we NEED MORE TUTORS. Thank you Rebecca Farmer and Irene Mann!

Nora Lyang and Sheila Driscoll reported 29+ tutoring hours during the second quarter!

Pat Pomidor is proud of her student. Together they investigated job possibilities and worked on a resume. Her student got a job at the end of March!

Bruna Lewis’ student passed the English portion of the No Child Left Behind test.

Julie Kim’s student submitted her first personal essay which is to be published by Project Second Chance.

2022 ProLiteracy Conference

Daly Young and Sheila Driscoll will be representing Diablo Valley Literacy Council at the ProLiteracy Conference in San Antonio in October. It is always a very inspiring, fun event.

Good Shepherd office changes

We have been grateful for many years for Laura Mott’s services as Office Manager at the Good Shepherd church. She is retiring from that position. HUGE APPRECIATION for all that Laura has done for Diablo Valley Literacy Council all these years.

The name of the temporary replacement in the office is Jenna. During the summer the office is closed on Mondays. If you need to sign out keys for the library, be sure you plan to do that Tuesday-Friday between 9am and 3pm. Please call ahead 925-682-8410 to make sure you will have access to the office in order to sign out keys for Room 3.

Report Hours for

April-June, 2022

Don't forget to report your hours for the 2nd quarter: Tutoring hours and Non-tutoring hours (time spent for preparation, travel to student and workshop).

You can email dvlc4esl@gmail.com or use the link that was emailed previously.

2022 Renewal Dues

If you haven't already done so, remember to pay your 2022 membership dues. It's a great way to show your support for DVLC, and we use the dues to pay for items needed to support our tutoring program.

Please use the DONATE button, visit dvlc4esl.org, or send check or cash for $15 to DVLC, 4000 Clayton Rd., Concord, CA 94521.

Diablo Valley Literacy Council | http://www.dvlc4esl.org

We'd love to hear from you! dvlc4esl@gmail.com Voicemail: 925-685-3881