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Literacy programs teach
an older generation how to read and
write
By Lane DeGregory,
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 |
PINELLAS
PARK - The conference room at the
Pinellas Park Library is big and empty.
The table is long. But the two women sit
shoulder-to-shoulder, their heads nearly
touching, each holding the edge of the
same worn workbook. Ann Palmer, the
woman on the left, slowly draws her
polished fingernail beneath each word.
Linda Barrett, the woman on the right,
blinks behind her wire-rimmed bifocals.
"The plants at the for … the for-est …
the forest!" Linda reads. "Wow!" "Very
good," Ann nods. "Keep going." "The
plants at the forest floor are about a
me … a me-ter high." Linda stops and
looks at Ann, puzzled. "What's a me-ter?"
For three years now, every Wednesday,
for an hour-and-a-half, the women have
been working together at the library.
They're almost the same age, both
mothers, both love the library. Though
Linda used to hate it.
Ann, 56, is a former human resources
manager who now volunteers full time as
the head of the Literacy Council of St.
Petersburg.
Linda, 58,
used to live with her mom because she
couldn't write a grocery list, couldn't
dial 911, couldn't read.
Ann taught Linda how to hold a pencil so
it wouldn't hurt her left hand, how to
tell a B from a D by using her fists,
how to write letters. Not just her name.
All of them.
"A meter is about a yard, just over 3
feet," says Ann. "They use meters to
measure things in Europe."
"Wow!" says Linda. "I only knew a water
meter. Wow!
. . .
In Pinellas County, Ann says, about 20
percent of adults are "below basic"
readers. Her volunteer group, which
started in 1968, gets students who have
been referred from employers, social
service agencies, homeless shelters.
Volunteers teach reading and writing
through the Laubach literacy program, a
phonetic-based method pioneered in the
Philippines during the 1930s.
Last year, 80 tutors in the southern
half of Pinellas County worked with 87
students one-on-one in schools and
libraries. In the past five years, they
have helped more than 300 people learn
to read. More than half of the tutors —
and students — are older than 50.
"You're never too old to learn to read,"
says Ann. "You just have to want to."
Ann's first Florida student was 83; when
his wife died, he knew he had to be able
to read his pill bottles. Another was a
church deacon; he just wanted to be able
to read the Bible. A mother wanted to
write her son a birthday card. A father
wanted to show his kids he could earn
his GED. One man wanted to become a boat
captain, but couldn't read all the
rules.
Linda's goals are simple: To read
stories to her granddaughter. To figure
out the TV listings so she won't miss
her nature shows. To bake brownies that
actually taste good. And she wants to
know. "You know," she says. "Just know."
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[KATHLEEN FLYNN | Times] |
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Linda’s mother, Donna McGee,
90, drives her to the
Pinellas Park Library for
reading sessions because
Linda’s epilepsy keeps her
from driving. |
Click here for the whole article. |
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The Literacy Council
of St. Petersburg
P.O. Box 12866
St.
Petersburg, FL 33733
727-521-1117 |
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OUR MISSION - We
are a non-profit organization established in 1968 to
teach adults to
read and to assist them in entering a GED (high school diploma
equivalency) program. We are affiliated with ProLiteracy
International, formed by the merger of Laubach Literacy and Literacy
Volunteers. |
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Ann Palmer,
President
Literacy Council of St. Petersburg
727-521-1117 |
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 YES,
Santa, there is a Virginia! Meet Virginia
Gildrie and her husband Gil. For 30 years the driving force behind
StPete Literacy. For her story, CLICK
HERE. |
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| OUR
BOARD |
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- Linda Ciston
- Maria Harmon
- Ann Palmer
- Mitchell Smith
- Edith Randolph
- Darlene Taccati
- Barbara Taylor
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A
Brief History |
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St. Petersburg
resident Ruth Feldman heard Frank
Laubach speak in 1968 about his “Each
One, Teach One” program to train people
to read. She decided to bring the method
to her hometown, and enlisted eight
women to be tutors, and the Literacy
Council of St. Petersburg was born.
With the help of
Pasadena Community Church, the Council
received $100 to purchase literature. It
was decided then that teachers would pay
for their own material, but students
would pay only if they could afford to
do so. The Council welcomed its first
pupil, and soon the original class
members, having received their Frank
Laubach certificates, started organizing
more teacher training classes. The
Council received official status as a
non-profit organization in 1971 from the
Internal Revenue Service.
The organization
grew and many of its students were
immigrants learning English for the
first time. So in the mid-1980’s, the
Clearwater group formed its own
organization, the Literacy Council of
Upper Pinellas, and focused on its
English as a Second Language program.
In 1986, a special
adult program was begun with the tutors
meeting one-on-one with students in St.
Petersburg at Lakewood Community Adult
(night) School . Northeast and Dixie
Hollins community schools soon followed.
Each school has a coordinator who
interviews students and assigns them to
tutors.
It has been a
successful model, according to Virginia
Gildrie, a Council member since 1973 and
a founder of the program. “The reluctant
student who has had negative experiences
at school willingly comes to meet just
one person who focuses on him. In
addition, the sites are close to the
homes of both the student and the
tutors, and the student sees others who
are working as hard as he is, and is
encouraged by that.” |
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Sweet memories.
A three-foot-wide sheet cake
was the centerpiece of the
Annual Dinner, held May 17
at the St. Petersburg Times
Auditorium. |
Virginia Gildrie,
a member for 35 years,
talked about the advances
made by the Coucil. |
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The Students’ Book |
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students worked very hard
writing their hearts out. We gave each
one the task of sharing a story
in their own words. And after
all their efforts and with the
help of their tutors, we have
put them together into a book.
The Literacy Council of St.
Petersburg is very proud to
introduce - “In Our Own Words”.
Click here for a PDF file of the
book. |
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