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Spring 2012

The Reader

Inside:

Bowl-a-Thon 2

EL Civics 3

Character Awards 3

Food, Friends, Fashion 4

Everybody Wins 5

Computer Literacy 5

Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer

County

1915 5th Ave. Troy, N.Y. 12180

(518) 274-8526

www.lvorc.org

On Sunday, May 6th, the Literacy Run/Walk raised more than $26,000 for Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County. These vital funds support literacy programs for adults and families in Rensselaer County. Thanks to our Run Committee: Caitlin Stein-Miner, Event Chair Cathy Watrobski Kim Margosian Erik Lehtinen Jim O’Connell Tom Hulihan Tom Bulger Dom Gieras Ridge McDonald Ron West Shay Harrison Daniela Squeglia Xiosyan Chen

And thanks to the many volunteers who made the event possible!

Please support our wonderful sponsors:

Literacy

Run/Walk

2012

Bowl-a-Thon

participants having fun

while raising much-

needed funds for adult

and family literacy

programs in our area.

Please join us in thanking everyone who made the event possible:

Sponsors:

CAP COM Federal Credit Union

Stewart’s Shops Jaeger & Flynn Associates The Record Gettysburg Flag Works Lane Sponsors: Allied Telcom Best Fire Hearth & Patio

DiCarlo's Auto Body Service Ctr. Don & Paul's Coffee Shop Gene's Fish Fry Committee Members:

Angela Fecko Kristin Morgan Raffle Donors:

AAA of the Hudson Valley Albany Aquaducks Anonymous Ausable Chasm Bob Daubney's CAP COM Federal Credit Union

Crossgates Mall DC Gymnastics The Egg Funplex Funpark The Glimmerglass Festival Hoffmann's Playland Holmes Engineering Aline Lawrenson LVORC Board of Directors The Music Studio National Baseball Hall of Fame Rensselaer County Home Bureau

Sam's Club Barbara Wyman

The Bowl-a-Thon at Uncle Sam Lanes, Troy, brought in a total of $5,000. These funds will support literacy programs for adults and kids in Rensselaer County.

Literacy Bowl-a-Thon a Big Success

On March 30th, the English Literacy

Civics class toured the State Capitol in

Albany. The class was able to see the

State Senate and Assembly in session

and to witness a vote as the Legislature

worked on the state budget.

Students in the English Literacy Civics

class learn about American systems

including government, education, and

public health. In addition to touring the

Capitol, students were able to visit the

State Museum and attended a job fair at

the Empire State Plaza.

English Literacy Civics Class Sees State Assembly in Action

Character Awards Recognize Literacy Volunteers

Left to right: Tom Hulihan, Sharon Domine, Barbara Wyman, and Marie Heller represented Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County at the Character Awards. Sharon Domine received her own Champion of Character Award as a student of the Sage Colleges.

Instructor, Linda Feldmann with Student, Zin Myo Lin, on

the Million Dollar Staircase in the State Capitol.

On April 3rd, Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County was honored at the Champions of Character Award Banquet, sponsored by the ACADEMY of CHARACTER EDUCATION at the Sage Colleges. Tom Hulihan, who serves as Director of Planning and Program Development for the Troy Housing Authority, presented the Community Organization Award to Barbara Wyman, Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County. The award recognizes the organization’s commitment to helping people improve their reading, math, English language and writing skills. Each of our volunteers and staff should feel proud: they made this award happen.

If you’re ready to become a U.S. Citizen and you need to prepare for the Naturalization Test, we can help. Volunteer Bob Knower has offered to teach a Citizenship Preparation

class in Troy this summer. Call the LVORC office at 274-8526 to schedule an appointment.

Food, Friends, and Fashion was the theme of the April 16th Student and Volunteer Dinner. The event was facilitated by Russell Sage College students enrolled in Women Changing the World, a course taught by tutor Sara Schuman. This semester the class partnered with Literacy Volunteers to serve as computer tutors, telephone partners, and Read With Me volunteers.

Volunteer Jean Holmes, above right, served as emcee of the fashion show. Jean helps with the Sewing and English Class and she made it possible for the learners to participate in this event. Thanks for all you do, Jean!

Students from the Sewing and English Class in Rensselaer brought their handmade goods and modeled traditional clothing from Burma. Pictured: Thi Da

A tutor wrote to say, “What a lovely evening.

My student and her family were so full of joy

when I dropped them off tonight. It was so

important for my student to see other folks

who are struggling to learn English. She loved

everything about the evening, the people,

the food, the little candy box favors on the

table, the idea to put conversation starters in

the little candy boxes, the pins for students

and tutors….and of course, the fashion

show.”

Food, Friends, and Fashion Friends

EVERYBODY WINS! (EW) That is the perfect name for our newest program, coordinated by volunteer Judy Smith. Volunteers from local businesses and colleges are matched with children at a close-by school. They read to their buddy once a week during the child’s lunch period. The business makes a donation to help support the program. A school coordinator notifies the volunteers if a child is absent, helps select appropriate books and makes sure everything runs smoothly.

Participating businesses win by helping the community and by showing their employees they care. Volunteers win, feeling satisfaction as their students learn and develop a love for books and reading. Schools win because children become excited about learning. Children win as caring adults show them they are special by reading to them each week.

Currently, EW takes place at schools in Troy and Albany, including School 14, Sacred Heart, Carroll Hill and Arbor Hill. Plans are in progress to start EW in School 2 (Troy) and Sheridan Prep (Albany) in September. Volunteers from Pitney Bowes, the RPI Lacrosse team, Aflac, Turner Construction, First Niagara, HVCC, Pi Beta Phi (an RPI Sorority), Key Bank, Canon and many community members are helping to ensure that EVERYBODY WINS! – Barbara Wyman

In March and April, fifteen adult learners participated in a Computer Literacy course. The course, developed by Literacy New York, offers learners the opportunity to work one-to-one with a tutor to develop computer skills at both the basic and advanced levels.

Learners met for four consecutive weeks at Russell Sage College. The tutors were undergraduate students enrolled in Women Changing the World. Each week, the pairs logged on to the learners’ individual accounts and worked through various learning plans. They followed step-by-step instructions on how to do internet research, send an email, and even how to build a resume and apply for a job online. It was a fun and fulfilling learning experience for everyone. At the end of the four-week course, many learners expressed an interest in continuing their computer usage and will continue working with their assigned tutor. This was a great success for all those involved! The on-line program continues to be available to any student/tutor pair, so if you’re interested, please call the office at 274-8526. – Katie Hayden

A special thanks to tutor Sara Schuman who teaches Women Changing the World at Russell Sage College. Sara initiated the partnership between her students and Literacy Volunteers, and her time and effort made all the difference.

1915 Fifth Avenue Troy, N.Y. 12180

PHONE:

(518) 274-8526

FAX: (518) 274-8610

E-MAIL:

LVORC@nycap.rr.com

We’re on the Web!

Visit us at:

www.lvorc.org

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF

RENSSELAER COUNTY

1915 FIFTH AVENUE

TROY NY 12180

Non-Profit Org.

US POSTAGE PAID

Permit No. 941 Albany, NY

12288

POST TESTING IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR SUCCESS

Many of you may already know that we have been busy with

the important task of post testing students. Students have been

asked to come to the office to take a post test, if needed. Not

all students will be contacted at this time.

If your student still needs to take an end-of-year test, please

encourage him or her to set up a time to come in. We truly

appreciate all of the hard work each of you does with your

student, and we want to be able to show the gains that have

been made.

SAVE THE DATE!

Authors’ Night

October 16, 2012

Pat’s Barn, Rensselaer Tech Park