What better way to ring in Women's History Month than by celebrating Biden's nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black female nominee to the supreme court. To have her perspective on a court that once declared her race unworthy of citizenship and endorsed segregation is certainly an historic move towards a more diverse and inclusive society, principles we hold dear at Literacy Source. If you'd like to learn more about her, this article highlights her ability to find compromise amidst confrontation "by deploying her smarts, good cheer and a root assumption that, whatever the obstacles, she belonged."
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Dear Literacy Source Community,
Find any significant progressive movement in history, especially one aimed at furthering human rights, and you don't have to search hard to find women either initiating on the front lines or providing support behind the scenes. From Harriet Tubman to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maya Angelou to the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement (Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi), you only have to look around you to see how women influence our world for the better.
At Literacy Source, we also don't have to look hard to find the influence of women in every part of our organization and the work we do. Here are some fun facts about women representation in Literacy Source:
- 78% of our students, 80% of our volunteers, and 88% of our instructors identify as female.
- Both of our Co-Executive Directors identify as female.
- Half of our students have children under the age of 18 at home.
- Our oldest (86) and youngest (19) students are both female.
At Literacy Source, we strive to create equal access to education because systemic injustices and oppression lead to unequal opportunities and barriers to participation. Women have often borne the brunt of that historical oppression, so we are excited to salute the contributions of women to our Literacy Source community and the community at large today and every day.
In community,
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Cat Howell
Co-ED, Educational Director
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Shira Rosen
Co-ED, Managing Director
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Incorporating Black History into the Classroom |
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We'd love to share with you how our instructors incorporated Black History Month into our classrooms.
Discussing tough topics like the history of racial injustice in our country in an ESOL classroom with a community of multi-level learners, many of whom have been impacted by their own struggles and traumas as refugees an immigrants, is not an easy task. Additionally, it can often be a difficult balance between recognizing the trauma of our country's history of racial injustice and celebrating the accomplishments and gains of the Black community in America.
Here are some ways our instructors were able to bring this meaningful topic to life in their classrooms:
- Our ESOL 4-5 classes have been learning about the concept of fair and unfair by looking at slides representing the Civil Rights Movement, slavery and ongoing discrimination. Students also talked about personal experiences of discrimination. Rachel (instructor) ended the lesson with a focus on celebration with videos about famous Black American men and women.
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Our Ready To Work Level 3-4 class has focused on problems at work, including problems of discrimination at work. They also included the Civil Rights Movement, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and Amanda Gorman's poem (We Rise). Additionally, they read a story from the Change Agent (an adult education magazine for social justice) about dealing with discrimination.
- Citizenship classes incorporated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr and Civil Rights movement into their curriculum.
- RTW and ESOL Level 1-2 have been more intentional in their focus on diverse images and posters, especially Black people in the US.
- ESOL Level 2-3 included racial justice focused quotes of the day, housing discrimination, study on linguistic profiling using different forms of English in their curriculum.
- The GED class focused on including diverse voices and perspectives into science curriculum, such as having a Geologist guest speaker who is Black and a Scientific American blogpost including 4 influential Black geoscientists.
Thank you, instructors, for giving us a window into your classrooms!
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New Class & Student Spotlight: English for Community Connections |
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In response to feedback from our community about leadership opportunities for students, we initiated a new class at Literacy Source fall quarter, spearheaded by Phil Morris (ABE instructor) and Martha Benitez (instructor, GED student, and board member). Originally called the Student Leadership Class, the students have decided it would be more apt to name it English for Community Connections moving forward.
According to Phil, it focuses on developing students' language skills through the lens of community development. Students in the class learn skills necessary to successfully navigate their communities and institutions, and influence them. Public speaking, project planning, email communication, and academic language skills are all ingredients used by the students to explore community issues relevant to them and connect with key stakeholders to affect changes. Students determine what projects they will develop and what skills they'll need to achieve them as part of an emergent and self-directed curriculum.
We were also able to hear from one of our students, Sayeh, about her experience participating in the class. She really enjoyed learning new vocabulary, especially terms that are important in making community connections and leadership positions, such as stakeholder, self-appointed, deftly, empowering, dicey, and initiative. She also loved how they would create sentences with that word that they would use intentionally throughout the day. Learning more about the American concept of "politeness" was another important concept for her, and she also appreciated learning more about email and making appointments. Finally, defining what makes a leader was a meaningful part of the class for Sayeh.
We look forward to hearing more about the great work that is happening in the English for Community Connections class!
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AmeriCorps Celebration Month |
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This month we join the country to celebrate the AmeriCorps program and members. We are lucky to have two members serving with us this year: Rachel Jones, with Washington State Service Corps, teaching our ESOL 4/5 classes and Sophia Harris, Outreach and Systems Coordinator VISTA member. Both have been fabulous additions to our programs, and we are very grateful for their service, commitment, and hard work. Thank you, Rachel and Sophia!
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New Staff Spotlight: Julia Herman |
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Please welcome our new Ready to Work instructor, Julia Herman! As you know, our Ready to Work classes offer students the opportunity to improve their English skills while simultaneously offering support services and help finding a job.
Read on to find out more about what drew her to Literacy Source, and what she hopes to create in her classroom.
Why are you excited to work for Literacy Source?
Last spring, I was living in Pittsburgh and planning to move to Seattle. I was working for a similar non-profit in Pittsburgh and wanted to continue teaching English Language Learners. I found Literacy Source through a Google search and read the entire website a couple of times! So many things made me want to work for Literacy Source – the student centered and individualized approach to learning, and the commitment to diversity and inclusion especially stuck out to me.
What drew you to the Ready to Work program?
I was drawn to the Ready to Work Program for several reasons. I like the focused, practical curriculum, and was impressed by the dedication of the students. Students in Ready to Work have 12 hours of class and homework each week, and they are all in. Even in the short time I’ve been teaching, I can already see them progressing!
Why are you excited about this role, or why do you think the role/this work is important? What do you hope to accomplish?
I am passionate about adult education because through it, students gain independence and accomplish goals they set for themselves. Education has the power to amplify the voices of students in our community.
On a more personal level, I’m excited to connect with students, and create a classroom environment where they can connect with each other. I want all my students to feel comfortable and seen for who they are. I hope that students coming out of my class will have improved English, higher digital literacy, a greater awareness of their workplace rights, and confidence in their new skills.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
At the start of the pandemic, I decided to try sewing with my newfound free time, and I loved it! I’ve made some things I love and some things that have ended up in the trash… It’s been an unexpected challenge and joy! I especially enjoy making clothes out of fabric I find at thrift stores or estate sales. This month I’ve tried to wear 1 item I’ve made every day.
We're so excited to have you join the team, Julia, and thank you for sharing your story with us!
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Literacy Source's 20th Annual Fundraising Breakfast |
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Dear Friends and Supporters of Literacy Source,
The breakfast is coming up in a month and if you haven't already registered to attend, there's no time like the present!
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Also, we could use your help! With the event being online, anyone can support the breakfast by becoming a table captain.
Would you please help us by inviting two people you know to the breakfast? To get you started we have an invite already made for you!
Our breakfast is more than a fundraiser, it's a celebration of Literacy Source and our students. A time to be inspired by the stories of our students, and to delight in the joys of literacy; especially with Nancy Pearl's book lists! Please consider sharing our event with your own friends, family and networks. We'd be honored to have them. The event is free to attend, but we do rely on your generosity to continue the important work that we do.
If you are interested in being a table captain, please send an email to Phil Z, our development manager, and he will gladly help you craft a message to your social circle. You can look this helpful guide to get you started.
Thank you so much for your support, and we are so thrilled to be celebrating 20 years of this wonderful event.
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Literacy Source is hiring!
We have two open positions:
Please help us spread the word!
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Program Update: Jail Programming Suspended |
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As many of you know, we've been providing one-to-one support to students seeking to further their education at the King County Jails for the past several years. We are sad to announce that after resuming our work with students at Regional Justice System in the fall of 2021, King County has suspended the program for the foreseeable future.
Our incarcerated students have a variety of barriers and special needs that make one-to-one tutoring invaluable to them, and we are proud of the gains they made in an effort to better their lives and give back to the community. In 2019 alone, we worked with seventy-five students in the Seattle Central, Seattle Public Schools, and Kent Public schools classes at King County Correctional Facility and Malent Regional Justice Center, helping them to pass 27 individual GED test modules and celebrating GED or diploma completion for 14 students. Within the walls of an institution that can often feel hopeless and restrictive, education provided a lifeline and source of hope for incarcerated individuals.
We have countless success stories (like this one) that show just how important this program has been to so many individual lives, and feedback from students has indicated that these programming interventions offer so much not only to our students, but to the community that they will contribute to when they are released. Here are some quotes from our students about the impact our programming had on them:
- “I feel 100 times better now, I feel positive, not so run down and depressed. Instead of just wasting my time in here, I'm now doing something that's gonna benefit me when I get out of here. It has really helped me out.”
- “It feels good the fact that I've gotten three of the tests under my belt. The first test I passed I wanted to cry and I called my mom, she was super proud of me even though she's not normally supportive like that. I also want to maybe work with women who have been human trafficked or maybe in culinary arts or automotive.”
- “I feel exciting, awesome, because I'm accomplishing stuff not just sitting around and killing myself, I'm bettering myself while I'm here.”
To the best of our knowledge, no programming is currently available for individuals incarcerated in King County jails. We plan to continue to advocate to reopen the jails to these valuable programming opportunities. We know that the past two years have presented unprecedented challenges, and welcome the opportunity to work with King County to develop a sustainable program for education moving forward.
Please let us know if you would feel like you have skills or contacts that could assist us in this effort.
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Literacy Source is on the traditional lands of the Duwamish people, and we pay our respect to elders both past and present. To support the revival of Duwamish culture and the vitality of the Duwamish Tribe, please consider signing this petition to federally recognize them, or consider making a donation to Real Rent Duwamish.
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