Spring is in the Air!
March 2023
Literacy Delaware Newsletter
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From the Desk of the Executive Director
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Dear Friends,
What an interesting year it has proven to be so far! Although spring is officially just around the corner, the mild temperatures in February made it feel like spring already. How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions if you made any? Although I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions, I remain resolute in the fact that fulfilling our mission remains critical for the success of the many adults in Delaware who are not proficient readers. Without having skills on the 6th grade level at minimum, these members of our community will remain marginalized. Increasing organizational awareness, building capacity and infrastructure, and securing adequate resources continue to be Literacy Delaware’s most pressing needs.
Our AmeriCorps team has begun to increase our capacity with the addition of classes resulting in the reduction of our learner waiting list! We are optimizing our organizational infrastructure to be more efficient and effective to support growth. We are building a fee-for-services program to diversify our resources, yet our donors remain of paramount importance for us to achieve success.
In terms of building organizational awareness, we have an exciting announcement to make! Literacy Delaware has been selected to host screenings of a new documentary, The Truth About Reading* The Invisible Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight. Prior to the national release of the film later this summer, we will be hosting several different screenings in late April and May at various locations throughout the state. I hope you will be able to join us for this free event! There are additional details in this newsletter.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our administrative assistant Paula Setting for her dedication and commitment to the organization over these past eight years. Paula has kept the office organized and running efficiently, has ensured that events ran smoothly, and has personally been my advisor, sounding board and biggest cheerleader!
As of March 17th Paula will move on to another job – grandmother to Arthur Lawrence, Artie, born in January. We will all greatly miss her! Best wishes Paula as you start this new adventure!!
With gratitude for your continued support,
Cindy
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Welcome New Board of Directors Member Kathy Seeman |
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Kathleen Seeman, M.Ed,, is an award winning reading and dyslexia specialist who has spent her career working with non-readers in classroom settings and private practice creating successful programming and having a 100% success rate with teaching children to read. Kathleen was early to apply Positive Psychology in classrooms, spawning a local movement and speaks globally and the effects of Reading Trauma.
Seeman is an advocate, lobbyist and community organizer who is passionate about reducing Delaware’s illiteracy rate as well as the nations. She founded the Delaware Reading Summit and brought together the state’s stakeholders to build consensus around the Science of Reading. As a lobbyist, Ms. Seeman testified in front of the Senate and House Education Committees to help ensure several pieces of key reading legislation were passed and currently works with other states to create successful Science of Reading legislative campaigns.
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PLEASE give the gift of LITERACY to our adult basic reading and English language learners! |
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Future Lawyer – Literacy Delaware Learner Joselyn |
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Four years ago, Joselyn came to the United States from Mexico speaking virtually no English. She enrolled in high school and was assigned to ESL classes. However, the teachers and students only spoke Spanish in her classes, making it challenging for Joselyn to improve her English language skills. Nonetheless, after graduating high school, Joselyn went on to enroll in Delaware Technical College as a criminal justice major.
As she was entering college, Joselyn knew she needed to improve her English language speaking, listening, and reading skills to continue to pursue her goals. “I wouldn’t speak with another person in English because I felt I didn’t have enough vocabulary to make a conversation” she noted. She was referred to Literacy Delaware by a friend and was pleased to begin meeting with her volunteer tutor Bill. It wasn’t that easy at the start. “When I met with him (in the beginning), we wouldn’t have a conversation because my vocabulary was really small. I understood some of what he said but not all. It was really hard”.
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about things like history, special holidays, and important people. The reading is interesting, it’s not boring. I have to answer questions after I read to make sure I really understand things”.
Joselyn thanks her tutor Bill for helping her improve. “I learn a lot working with Bill. I’m really happy with him. Now I feel more comfortable speaking about my day, my classes, vacation. I like that he always asks how he can help me”.
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Joselyn and Bill devote one of their twice weekly tutoring sessions to vocabulary to help build Joselyn’s proficiency and the other to reading to help her improve her competence and comprehension. “We read stories
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Looking to her future, Joselyn continues to work hard at DelTech. “Some of the classes are difficult but I’m learning things I never learned before. I want to be a lawyer. I like to help people” affirms Joselyn, “I’m really trying my best”. Continued success, Joselyn!
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The future keeps getting brighter! UPDATE: Literacy Delaware Learner Daniela |
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Future pediatrician Daniela completed her first year in the ESL program at Delaware Technical Community College which she attended on a Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) grant, saying she “really enjoyed it,” even though “it was hard. The grammar in English is difficult. English has a lot of exceptions, and you need to really pay attention. The writing was most challenging for me because I recognize that my vocabulary is not that extensive. When I try to express an idea, the vocabulary I have doesn’t always work, but I use it to express another idea that I can express.”
Daniela appreciated the caring instructors who were very helpful in assisting Daniela to further refine her grammar and writing skills. “I liked my professors. The teachers there they have the patience
to help you. They always paid attention to us. If they saw that my
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face looked like I didn’t understand something they would ask if everything was okay.”
June, Daniela’s Literacy Delaware tutor, continues to work with her to enhance her writing skills in anticipation taking several math and science classes as well as English 101 in the next term. “We are reading books together and will summarize what we read”. Daniela is also working with June writing paragraphs on topics like “how to make a meal, my favorite movie and what I like about my bedroom” to help build her writing skills.
Socially, Daniela enjoyed the opportunity to make friends with students from varying backgrounds. “I met people from a lot of cultures. I made friends with people from places like Paraguay, Mexico, Uruguay, Thailand and China." She says she and her friends keep
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in touch by playing games online together.
“I still want to be a doctor. I feel it is more close than before”. Well done, Daniela, and continued success!
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A HUGE thank you to all the learners, tutors, library staff, and other special friends who attended our 40th Anniversary celebrations!
To everyone who joined us in person at the Wilmington Library, the Dover Library, the Frankford Library or via Zoom, we hope you enjoyed reminiscing about our humble beginnings and past accomplishments, hearing about the program today, and learning about where we're going. A very special thanks to our speakers Carmen Knox, Tim Travers, and Bill Ritchie!
We are excited to have kicked off our 40th Anniversary year! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and like and share our posts to help them be seen. Stay tuned for upcoming events as we celebrate all year long.
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In case you missed it, please enjoy this video we shared about our organization's history.
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SAVE THE DATE - The Truth About Reading Movie Screening
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This powerful documentary tells the story of adult literacy through the eyes of those who know it best – adults who struggle with literacy. Particularly moving is the story of John Corcoran author of The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read. John shares his own incredible story of moving through the educational system, graduating college, and teaching high school for 17 years – all while only having a second grade reading level. At age 48 he sought help from a non-profit just like us in California.
While there is no charge for attendance to the movie screening, registration is strongly suggested to ensure available seats.
Georgetown Public Library Monday April 24 5:30 PM Registration
Wilmington Public Library Tuesday April 25 5:30 PM Link to follow
Christiana Hospital Monday May 1 4:00 PM Details to follow
Freeman Town Hall Monday May 15 Details to follow
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SAVE THE DATE: Gals that Give Event for Literacy Delaware |
Literacy Delaware will be the beneficiary of a Gals that Give event on Wednesday September 27 at the DuPont Country Club. We invite you to join us for a buffet dinner, pick a prize auction, and 50/50 raffle. We are putting together 60 baskets for the auction. Money raised from the auction and raffle will go directly back to Literacy Delaware to support our program. These funds will allow us serve more adult learners in the state of Delaware.
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Interested in tutoring or know someone who might be interested?
We need YOU!
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We hope you are following us on Facebook and liking and sharing our posts to help us spread the word about the good work we do.Liking and sharing our posts helps get them seen.
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Please donate to help us reach more learners throughout Delaware! |
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Literacy Delaware, Inc.
P.O. Box 2083
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