The Literacy Letter

Summer 2026

Message from the Leadership Team

To Our LVSC Friends,

In 1981, retired school teacher, Alma Liotta, created what is Literacy Volunteers of Somerset County (LVSC) today. That first year, Ms. Liotta trained 18 tutors to teach adults how to read. Today, 45 years later, LVSC’s network of 200+ trained tutors are teaching reading, writing, and conversational English skills to hundreds of students from all over the world!

We celebrated our milestone anniversary at the Annual Meeting and Recognition Night in June. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Commitment to Community” which was fitting since we wouldn’t be halfway through our 45^th year of service without you, our incredible community. Together we have much to be proud of and thankful for.

June 30^th marks the end of LVSC’s fiscal year, so in this edition of The Literacy Letter, we’re pleased to share accomplishments of the past year. Here are a few highlights:

We served 640 students from 58 different countries.
More than 200 LVSC volunteers provided 7,000+ hours of volunteer service – a $209,000 value!
By collaborating with partner agencies, we continued our expanded service offerings -- Family Literacy, Beginner ESL Classes, and Immigration Support.
We received both statewide and national recognition.

Being part of the LVSC leadership team is inspiring. Every day we witness the kindness of our talented volunteers, the bravery of our hardworking students, and the commitment of our generous supporters -- people like you! We hope you enjoy this edition of The Literacy Letter and feel inspired by all we have accomplished together. Have a safe and happy summer's end.

Gratefully,

Aimee Lam, Executive Director

Scott Curtis, Board President

P.S Don’t miss the Director’s Report, which includes comprehensive highlights from the past year, plus a brief walk down memory lane.

Read the Director's Annual Report

The Impact of LVSC Services

Goal Set and Met, GED Obtained!

When LVSC tutor Mary Beth first met Ana, they quickly identified Ana’s major goal: she wanted to pass her GED test. The two got to work immediately with preparation workbooks and focused each session on language, math, social studies and science. Ana, from Peru, felt it was very important for her to take and pass the test in English, not Spanish, and this spring she did it. Congratulations, Ana!

Week after week, LVSC tutors guide students in learning English so that they can achieve their goals. So many impressive goals were set and met this past year as you will see in our Impact Report.

Read Our Impact Report

Annual Meeting & Recognition Event

Our June Annual Meeting and Recognition Night brought together the LVSC community to honor the dedication and hard work of our volunteers and students. The evening was filled with gratitude for our community partners and donors, inspiring stories of success, and meaningful opportunities to connect and celebrate together.

2026 Award Recipients

Student of the Year:

Alejo Jiminez

A musician from Paraguay, Alejo (pictured right) came to LVSC in fall 2023. Paired with tutor Christopher Yen (pictured left), he worked to strengthen his English so he could grow his career. Through focused lessons and hard work, Alejo gained confidence, reached important milestones, and found new ways to communicate in English. Alejo’s hard work paid off with many job offers! Today, he works as a sound engineer, school crossing guard, and music teacher. At the Annual Meeting, Alejo and his wife treated guests to a live performance that you can watch on LVSC's YouTube Channel.

Tutor of the Year:

June Tamburro

A former pastoral leader, June found a new calling as an LVSC tutor in winter 2020. Her six students from Brazil, Georgia, Peru and Korea benefit from her patience, wisdom, and friendship. Whenever a student graduates, she readily welcomes another. June also leads a conversation group, spending hours creating relevant, fun lessons. In one recent series, she taught students about baseball with songs, explanation of rules, and Cracker Jacks for the class! (June is pictured right with student Monica Yepez.)

Volunteer of the Year:

Linda Choplick

Since joining LVSC in fall 2022, Linda has been a dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer. Along with weekly tutoring, she welcomes new students as an assessor, attends fundraising events, generously contributes very popular baskets to our Garden of Literacy tricky tray, and will start leading a conversation group on Monday mornings this fall. (Linda is pictured left, with student Ines Nunes-Bieniek.)

Community Partner Award: Snehal Batra, Esq. - NPZ Law Group

Snehal’s expertise on immigration law has been an incredible resource for the LVSC community. This past year, she volunteered to provide in-person naturalization workshops and led two immigration webinars. She consistently supports LVSC volunteers, staff, and students by answering immigration-related questions, providing trustworthy guidance, and offering confidential consultations during English Assessment Tests.

Martha Davis Award for Outstanding Service:

Peter Russell

An all-around great guy, Pete is a dedicated tutor, talented board treasurer, and generous supporter. He is always willing to lend a helping hand and is an invaluable member of the LVSC community -- just like the namesake of this award.

Milestone Years of Service

LVSC asks tutors to commit to one year of service, but many volunteers go far beyond that promise, working with the same student for years, supporting multiple students, and/or taking on new roles within the organization. We are proud to recognize volunteers who have reached service milestones this year, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to LVSC students and the broader LVSC community.

5 years of service:

Snehal Batra

Brymer Chin

Steve Johnson

Brian Kornbrek

Ellen Locker

Tom McLoughlin

Diana Mendez

Shyamala Muralikrishnan

Stella Nieves

Beth Noble

Christine Renz (6 years)

Peter Russell

Mary Saraco

10 years of service:

Marina Kennedy

Galina Kurchuk

Tho Ngo

Brenda Overcash

Yvonne Selander

Tom West

Karen Tenenbaum

15 years of service:

Phil Armenio

20 years of service:

Paula Reid

Our Newest Tutors

We were thrilled to welcome 57 new tutors during our Winter, Spring and Summer 2026 Tutor Training Workshops. Thanks to all for sharing your time and expertise with LVSC.

We always have more students than tutors. Do you know someone who would like to help? Please refer them to LVSC.

Become a Tutor

Recent Tutors of the Month

Our Tutor of the Month program highlights the engaging ways that different volunteers teach English. Each of our volunteers is special, meet six recent Tutors of the Month.

Steve Johnson

February 2026

Steve, a retired pharmaceutical executive, is a committed volunteer who has tutored students from Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Turkey and Costa Rica. He is especially proud of his learner from Colombia who was able to get a better job as a result of their tutoring sessions. Steve is impressed by his students’ desire to learn and improve their English language skills and to keep at it when it’s not quite as easy as they may have hoped! He’s rewarded for his many hours of tutoring by his eager and thankful students as they work toward assimilating into New Jersey’s culture.

John MacMaster

May 2026

John’s vast experiences as an international traveler brought him to LVSC, where he makes cultural connections with his students. John (pictured left) divides his lessons into a mix of English fundamentals, with conversational topics that are fun and interesting. In November, John built a lesson around Thanksgiving dinner. After giving his students a shopping checklist, they walked together from the Somerville library to ShopRite, where his students conducted a “scavenger hunt” to learn about the store’s layout and find everything on the list!

Katie Singh

March 2026

Katie, a scientific director and writer (pictured right). has been tutoring Rupavani for more than one year, both in-person and on Zoom. They start their sessions by talking about their weekends, and through that exchange, Katie has learned about many wonderful Southern Indian traditions and Hindu festivals. She helps to build Rupavani’s confidence by role-playing dialogs before Rupavani puts them into action. With practice, Rupavani was able to order pizza over the phone for her son’s birthday party and call to ask library personnel if the library was open.

Stella Tai

July 2026

A retired postmaster, Stella (pictured right) has been a tutor for four years and has taught students from Mexico, China and South Korea. She takes the time to really get to know her students and then create lesson plans that are suitable and interesting. Stella finds that her students want to learn more than just the English language – they want to learn how to be part of the community and what life is like in the United States. She enjoys watching their growth, confidence and resilience as they overcome challenges and adjust to life in New Jersey.

Mary Ann Foley-Mayer

April 2026

Mary Ann is a retired Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who has always put other people’s well-being front and center. She believes her students know more English than they think they do and just need more confidence to speak it, so they practice dialogs covering topics such as calling 9-1-1, making appointments, handling insurance issues and asking questions in stores. Mary Ann enjoys learning about different cultures and working with people who have life skills and experiences that are different from hers.

Agnes Michalek

August 2026

Thirty years ago, Agnes’ mother was an LVSC student from Manville. Today, Agnes (pictured right) is paying that forward. She has been working with her student, Daniela from Costa Rica, for one year. They meet at the food court in Whole Foods, which has created a fun, casual learning environment. When Daniela told Agnes she corrected a translator at her son’s doctor’s appointment, Agnes realized their literacy work together was paying huge dividends!

LVSC's Tammy Westmark received Literacy NJ’s Award for Volunteer Excellence at the Literacy for Life statewide conference. Tammy was recognized for her 12 years of outstanding service to LVSC and her great success and dedication to working with basic ESL students. In addition to serving as a tutor since 2014, Tammy also assesses new students for services and mentors fellow tutors. She has positively impacted so many lives – students, tutors, and staff alike. We were thrilled to celebrate this well-deserved recognition with Tammy surrounded by literacy practitioners from across the state.

The 7th annual Garden of Literacy Brunch & Baskets event was extra-special this year as we marked our 45th anniversary. We came together to honor LVSC's long history of teaching English and cultivating a welcoming community, while also celebrating spring. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, guests, volunteers, and prize donors, we raised $25,000 for LVSC's free programs -- a new record.

Decade of Growth: Esen Artis’ Journey

At our very first Garden of Literacy event in 2016, we were introduced to Esen Artis (pictured left), who had recently moved to the United States from Turkey with her family. At the time, Esen had just been matched with her tutor, Kathy England (pictured right). This year we were thrilled to welcome them both back to see where their journey has led.

When Esen first joined LVSC, she was hesitant to speak with other mothers at the playground or to communicate with teachers at her children’s school. With the support of LVSC’s tutoring and conversation group programs, her confidence and English proficiency steadily grew.

Ten years later, Esen’s transformation is remarkable. She is now a Sales Manager at Bloomage Biotechnology USA, where she confidently engages with customers in English at trade shows, meetings, and industry events.

Kathy and Esen worked together for many years as tutor and student, during which time Esen achieved many life-changing goals. While they no longer meet for tutoring sessions, their relationship has grown into a lasting friendship. Now, they and their families come together to celebrate holidays and special milestones—a powerful reminder of the lasting impact of connection and community.

Different Ways to Help

Give the Gift of Literacy

Our longevity as an organization is dependent on the generosity of the local community. If you feel inspired by what you have read, please consider a donation! You can honor a student, volunteer, or someone special and we will send a card to let them know. Donations help us train new tutors, serve more students, support our volunteers, and grow our programs. Thank you!

Make a Donation

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