New DVLC Tutors



Diablo Valley Literacy Council Newsletter
Volunteers teaching English as a second language (ESL) to non English speaking adults
Calendar

January

DVLC Annual Meeting
via ZOOM
Saturday, January 9
10:00am-noon
Guest Speaker
  
DVLC Board Meeting
via ZOOM
Thursday, January 14
10:00am

February
 
DVLC Board Meeting
via ZOOM
Thursday, February 11 10:00am

1st Half of new Tutor Training via ZOOM
Saturday, February 27
10:00am

March
 
2nd Half of new Tutor Training via ZOOM
Saturday, March 6
10:00am

DVLC Board Meeting
via ZOOM
Thursday, March 11
10:00am

Check your email for updates.
Report Hours for October - December, 2020
Don't forget to report your hours for the third 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.
ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCES  Library
 Our DVLC library at the Good Shepherd Church in Concord will not be accessible for the foreseeable future. We encourage tutors to find teaching resources on the internet.

Here are a few to checkout:

ProLiteracy Webinars

USA Learns

USA Learns Citizenship
 
Welcome to Rachel's English - American Pronunciation

News In Levels

Preparing for the Oath

Student Apps:

LearningUpgrade

HelloTalk

Send us your favorite tools.
DVLC Directory
Voicemail: 925-685-3881
 
Officers:

President and Web Master
Lucy Goodell 
 
Vice-President and Hours Coordinator 
Rachel Sanborn 
 
Secretary
Mary Thomas 
 
Treasurer
Qinghua Jin   
 
Board of Directors: 
 
Hospitality/Volunteers
Ela Newacheck

Publicity
Loretta Morrison
 
Librarian
Mary Nash  
 
Student/Tutor Coordinator
Open
 
Workshop Registrar
Open
 
Workshop Training Coordinator
Kris Torske

Member-at-Large  
Ed Chambers
Marcia Haas 
 
Newsletter Editor
Kathy Anderson 
 
Winter 2021
Vol. 35  No. 1        
President's Letter:
 
What a learning year we all had in 2020. For forty years we have been structuring our tutoring based on meeting face to face and suddenly we had to switch our tactics to using technology for virtual one-on-ones.
 
Diablo Valley Literacy Council now has a Zoom Pro license enabling us to have volunteer meetings without a 40-minute limit. Two things came together to make this happen. Friends of Alice Foster's daughter (Lisa) felt that "honoring Alice's life by helping the DVLC to continue your good work is a perfect tribute to her Mom."
 Our generous donors, the Middle March Mavens book club, wrote to us:
"We all will be blessed by your use of Zoom to further the goals of the DVLC, knowing that you are changing lives and that Alice would more than approve."
"Thank you for all you do to make people's lives easier and better through literacy." Their book club donated $150 in Alice's memory. On top of that, ProLiteracy offered a discount that will enable us to extend the license beyond one year. 
 
Our next tutor training will be delivered via Zoom on the mornings of February 27 and March 6. We ran a pilot in November to prepare our trainers for the February-March program. Four new volunteers took advantage of participating in the pilot run and of being matched with students prior to attending the full training. Welcome to Jessica, Julie, Kent, and Kyle!
 
We hope, if you are reading this before January 9, 2021, that you will join our Annual Membership meeting at 10:00 am on Zoom. We will have a guest speaker, co-director of Monument Impact.
 
Dues reminders have gone out and this year you can pay your $15 dues online at our web-site, dvlc4esl.org, if you prefer that to mailing check or cash.
 
Finally, we are looking to add one or two directors to our Board of directors. We meet monthly on the second Thursday at 10:00 am. If you are in a position to join our Board we would LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! We are also seeking individuals to manage our tutor/student matching and our tutor training registrations.
 
Lucy Goodell
President
Farewell to William Oliver 
For many years, William Oliver supported DVLC as a tutor, promoter, and cheerleader. We were sorry to hear that we lost him to COVID-19 in November of 2020. Bill was certified in our tutor training in September of 2004 and has championed our cause ever since. Many of our tutors came to us as a result of his efforts. He spread the word at Rossmoor and at his church. We know that he will be missed by the community as well as by Diablo Valley Literacy Council. We are indebted to him. 
Terese McGregor Completes her Mission on the Board 
Terese McGregor joined our Board in 2020 to guide us in fund raising and achieving a balanced annual budget. From the start she stipulated that she would not be able to commit to our normal 3-year term on the Board, but she was confident she could help us in a year's time. That she did!
 
We held a successful pizza fund raiser in March with Terese at the helm. In addition she had many suggestions as to how to manage our budget and our financial reports so that we are prepared every two years for one of our larger expenditures, which is to send two people to the ProLiteracy bi-annual conference.
 
Terese completed her one-year term on the Board in December. She will continue to participate in DVLC activities. We thank her for her service.
DVLC Annual Meeting via ZOOM
 Saturday, January 9, 2021
10am to 12noon
 
Our program will include:
  • Summary of 2020 events and activities
  • Voting and installation of new and returning board members
  • GUEST SPEAKER: Pablo Benavente, Co-chair of the Board of Directors at Monument Impact
  • Raffle for a $50 Amazon card
Shining Stars! 
Jennifer Machado, Pat Pomidor, and Theresa Nidetz all logged more than 20 hours of tutoring during October/November/December. Jennifer Machado also deserves a shout-out for the number of people she has referred to DVLC for tutoring! 
Thank you, Jennifer.
2021 ProLiteracy Conference
 
We have one tutor, Theresa, who has expressed interest in attending this conference next September. Diablo Valley Literacy Council would like to send two of our volunteers to San Antonio next September for the ProLiteracy Conference. We will cover $1000 of your expenses if you choose to be one of our two attendees. Registration has typically been $375, so we could reimburse at least $625 of each individual's travel expenses. Let us know if this floats your boat! The conference is a very energizing experience for any ESL tutor. 
 

2021 Renewal Dues  
If you haven't already done so, remember to pay your 2021 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 here or on our dvlc4esl.org web-site, or send check or cash for $15 to DVLC, 4000 Clayton Rd., Concord, CA 94521.
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DVLC Library  
NOTE:
Our library at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church remains closed for the foreseeable future. Contact us at dvlc4esl@gmail.com if you have books to return.
 
We'd love to hear from you!  Email your questions or comments to Diablo Valley Literacy Council:   dvlc4esl@gmail.com 
   
See our updated website: