National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 - October 15, celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of Latinx individuals in the United States. There are more than 62 million Hispanic or Latinx people in the U.S., comprising 18.7% percent of the total population and driving national population growth. Check out visual exhibits, as well as audio and video resources, compiled by the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and other organizations online! Alternatively, experience some of the rich culture, history, and artistic expression of Latinx people from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America at local events in your community.
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Dear Literacy Source Community,
Fall classes started this week, and we are excited to welcome our students back to the classroom! All of our daytime classes are now in person, and our Lake City office is recovering some of the vibrancy of its pre-pandemic atmosphere. We’re especially pleased to honor our Latinx students during National Hispanic Heritage Month, a designation that celebrates the varied histories, cultures, and contributions. Our students come from a diverse array of countries including Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, and El Salvador, and we continue to learn a great deal from their unique stories and cultural expressions.
We are stepping up our support for students seeking citizenship by protesting Seattle's reduced funding for our citizenship program. While we’re grateful to the numerous individuals who wrote Mayor Harrell on our behalf, he has since submitted his budget proposal to the City Council. As a result, we're seeking community members to speak at the City Council advocating for our citizenship program and staff! If you’re interested in supporting Literacy Source in this manner, please contact Shira Rosen at shirar@literacysource.org.
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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Volunteer Spotlight: CP Jackson |
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CP Jackson spent five years with Literacy Source, as a volunteer instructor in our GED math lab, drawing on her 35-year career as an accountant for the IRS and her master’s degree in adult education. Now, she’s moving on to serve as an AmeriCorps Program Coordinator with Reading Partners, running the reading center at one of Seattle’s elementary schools. Read on to hear more from CP:
How did you get started with Literacy Source?
I was still working at the time but wanted to transition into volunteer work, and I have a very deep passion for education and literacy. I found Literacy Source on Google and went to their information session – they told me that there wasn’t anything open at the moment, but they’d contact me. Within a month, their GED math instructor had left, so they asked me to do it.
Read the full interview with CP Jackson here.
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Please join us in welcoming three new ESOL and ABE Instructors! |
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Erik Bodlaender
ESOL Instructional Advisor
Erik has been teaching ESL/EFL for nearly 15 years. His career has taken him to various places throughout the world: mainland China, Macau, Turkey, and here in Seattle. He is passionate about teaching students and loves to learn about their backgrounds and culture. When not working, Erik enjoys traveling, running, and dancing.
What are you most looking forward to at Literacy Source? I am very much looking forward to meeting the students and getting to know about their goals and interests.
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Minahil Nauman
AmeriCorps ABE Program Assistant
Originally from Pakistan, Minahil moved to the U.S. in 2016. She has a bachelor's in business administration with a major in finance. Minahil worked as a middle school teacher right out of graduation for a year. During her college years, she volunteered at local orphanages as a mentor and part-time teacher. She spent two years at Notre Dame (for her husband’s studies), where she was involved in community events and volunteering. For the past five years in Seattle, Minahil has been keeping herself busy with some minor event planning for friends and family. She thoroughly enjoys meeting people, helping out in the community, and experiencing new cultures. In her free time Mianhil enjoys road trips, hosting dinner parties, and occasionally binging Pakistani soap operas with food or sleep.
What are you most looking forward to at Literacy Source? I'm looking forward to being able to help people and working with students from all across the globe. I'm excited to start working after a long break and for the opportunity to learn and grow.
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Jack Clemens
AmeriCorps ESOL Program Assistant
Jack grew up in Snoqualmie, and has recently graduated from Western Washington University with his current teaching credentials. He is certified in secondary mathematics and chemistry, and also educated in instruction for English language learners. Outside of his professional life, Jack enjoys watching reality television with his friends, playing classic video games, and learning niche things!
For the past half-year, Jack has volunteered for Literacy Source alongside substitute teaching. Before this, his primary experiences with conducting entire classrooms were online during the first year of COVID-19. Where Jack is currently, substitute teaching has given him great experience with managing entire classrooms in person, but he still hasn't gotten the opportunity to work with a consistent group of students for an extended amount of time.
What are you most looking forward to at Literacy Source? I'm looking forward to building a classroom community that will foster learning and English practicing opportunities. And throughout the year, I'm excited to see myself work in an environment where I understand my students and their needs.
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Literacy Source is pleased to share that we are partnering with ACRS, AJAC, and Out of the Box Manufacturing to develop an ESOL for Manufacturing class to be held at Out of the Box. The project is generously funded by a Boeing grant, and the curriculum will hopefully be used by AJAC in the future to better prepare non-native English speakers for careers in manufacturing.
ESOL Instructional Advisor Julia Herman is currently developing the class, and will teach it later this fall.
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Our 2021-2022 Annual Report is now up online and available to view! Some key statistics from the past fiscal year:
We served 615 students at our center and partnership programs
Our students speak 46 languages (Amharic is the most common,
followed by Spanish)
36 students earned their citizenship
93% of students reported attaining a computer or life skills goal
Read the full report on our website here.
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Literacy Source is seeking to fill a part-time position developing new, exciting programs to teach work-related skills.
Work part-time with employers and other community partners to develop a curriculum and teach adult basic skills to non-native English speakers using an equity and social-justice approach. More information and job description available on our website.
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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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