Literacy Link - Leamos

Newsletter

January-February 2007

Inside This Issue

READ!    START THE YEAR RIGHT!

Buttons Available

LYL 2007 Fit as a Fiddle

Tutors’ In-Service

Project Read 2007

A Quick Fix: Google it!

Quote to Ponder

A Note from Michelle

Calendar of Events

Literacy Link – Leamos:      A community of learners and volunteers dedicated to increasing literacy, reading and the love of learning throughout Grant County.

Literacy Link-Leamos

515 W. College Avenue

Silver City, NM 88061

(505) 388-0892

literacylinkleamos@yahoo.com  www.gilarangers.com/leamos.htm

Michelle Detterick

Program Coordinator

Literacy Link – Leamos is partially funded by the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy

READ!   READ!   READ!

START THE YEAR RIGHT!

     Volunteers of Literacy Link – Leamos are participating in Read! Start the Year Right!, a statewide campaign initiated by the Professional Program Directors Association and co-sponsored by the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy.  The campaign is designed to increase public awareness of literacy needs and resources throughout New Mexico.  Literacy programs across the state are as diverse as the populations they serve.  However, they all have one thing in common: the goal of increasing individual literacy skills.

     The first activity for Read! Start the Year Right!  is nearing completion as  Literacy Link – Leamos has partnered throughout the month of December with the local Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program to distribute three books to each family who participates in the supplemental food program. Books are given to families with young children to encourage reading in the home and to lay a good language foundation for every child, helping them to be ready for school.  The WIC program is available for expectant and postpartum mothers and their children under the age of five.

     Literacy volunteers will distribute bright yellow Read! Start the Year Right! buttons to community literacy partners and their staffs, LL-L learners and tutors, and other local individuals in the public spotlight.  Recipients will be encouraged to wear the buttons throughout the month of January as a means of increasing public awareness of local literacy needs and resources.  

     Literacy Link – Leamos will inform the public of literacy needs and services available through a community outreach at the local Food Basket, public service announcements on radio stations and CATS, and ads in the local press.  At the community outreach free educational materials and books will be available. Volunteers will be on hand to talk with individuals interested in receiving tutoring. During the outreach at the Food Basket the public is invited to enter the Read! Start the Year Right! drawing for a $50 savings bond donated by Western Bank. 

Buttons Available

     Volunteers please come by the LL-L office and pick up a Read! Start the Year Right! button for yourself and if you are currently tutoring, your learner. Wear them everywhere and help us spread the word!

LYL 2007 Fit as a Fiddle

Planning has begun for the 6^th annual Love Your Library celebration, Fit as a Fiddle, by event chair Annette Mitchem and committee.  Toe tapping music by Fiddlin’ Friends and finger lickin’ good snacks by county extension agent Judy O’Loughlin will delight all ages. Scheduled for Saturday, February 10, 10 am to 1 pm, lots of volunteers are needed to help with games, crafts, book giveaways, and snacks. To volunteer, call Annette at 534-0794 today.

In-service for Tutors

Our focus for January’s in-service is Just the Essentials, of tutoring small groups of learners and using some of our newly purchased software. Our discussion will focus on methods and tools for tutoring small groups.   Our small groups meet a unique need in our community for the ESL learner and are currently our most effective venue of reaching new learners.  Volunteers are needed to develop this vital component of Literacy Link – Leamos.  Please come and learn more about this unique opportunity and ways you can help.  Laptops will be available for you to explore our new software and learn how easy it is to incorporate computers in weekly tutoring sessions.  Discussion of small group instruction: 1 to 2 pm.  Explore software: 2 to 4 pm.  You are encouraged to come for any or all of the in-service. Refreshments will be served!

Project Read 2006 -2007

Literacy Link – Leamos has received a generous grant of $5000 from the Target Foundation to fund Project Read 2006-2007, one way in which we positively impact local literacy.  The time frame for this project is: January-March: purchase and label books; April-May: book distributions at elementary schools.  The Target grant enables us to purchase books however; your help is needed to actually get the books into the hands of a child. A label identifying the book as a gift from Literacy Link – Leamos and funded by Target is placed in each book. The labels also provide information on tutoring available through our literacy program and contact information. Volunteer today by calling the office or contact project chair Caroline Baldwin, 388-8771. Get involved with this project.  It is very rewarding to see the grins of excited children toting home the books they have selected.

A Quick Fix: Google it!

Tutors, are you looking for a way to ease computer use into your weekly tutoring session?  How about brainstorming for a topic of interest with your learner and then Google it?  This search engine is the home age of our computers- so it is easy to find and Google can take you as far as you have time to spend looking!

Quote to ponder

Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding.          Louis Gerstner

A Note from Michelle 

Y prospero año nuevo…..

How long does the “holiday season” last for you? Mine stretches from Thanksgiving through a birthday in the middle of January. When the Cowboys are Super Bowl contenders, my holiday lasts even longer.

The Christmas hustle and bustle is a wrap and the new year of 2007 is about to unfold.   I toast you with my favorite, “Y prospero año nuevo….. The happiness that I have in mind and wish for you is expressed in the words of Solzhenitsyn:  It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world that knits us together.

My happiness has increased through my involvement with Literacy Link – Leamos and I am certain it is due to my kinship of heart with tutors, volunteers, and learners. Thank you!

Michelle