295 Water St. Suite 103 ~ Olde Federal Building ~ Augusta, ME 04330
Holiday 2007
295 Water St. Suite 103 ~ Olde Federal Building ~ Augusta, ME 04330
Inside
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LVA held its 33rd annual meeting of the membership on October 4th. in the new conference room at the Old Federal Building in Augusta. The Muskie School out-grew their space and since their departure, the entire building is undergoing major renovation. A new conference room and kitchen was added on the 1st floor and is available to all tenants.
The meeting was well attended and we were pleased to have several tutors and students there.
Annual recognition awards were presented during the evening. SonYe Caron and her tutor, Ellen Lamb are student and tutor of the year. They have worked together since May 2005. Son Ye, originally from Korea, has made significant progress in her English skills. Along with tutoring, Ellen also supports the affiliate in many other ways. The third award went to Volunteer of the Year, Woody Tarbuck. Woody is a retired special education teacher. He has tutored several students and also administers many student assessments. We thank him for the 120 hours he devoted to the Augusta affiliate.
A lovely bunch of door prizes and favors were given to all attendees.
Literacy Volunteers of Augusta and Waterville held a joint Basic Reading Tutor Training Workshop at the Winslow Public Library in October. LVA’s certified tutor trainer, Jenny Small, provided the instruction and we are happy to say two hearty souls from this area completed the training and are now tutoring.
New Tutors are: Helen Armstrong, Winthrop, Max Katler, Augusta, and from the Waterville affiliate are Patricia Saveall, Cathy McKelway, Suzanne Leibowitz, Donna Dow, Janet Stocco, Don Smith, Deborah Jacobs, Patricia Butler, Susan Morrill and Kathy Glenn-Lewin.
The Waterville affiliate was able to support this training through a grant from the United Way of Mid-Maine. The two groups have been collaborating for the past year in an effort to support the re-establishment of the Waterville affiliate and several Waterville tutors have attended trainings in the Augusta area. They are now well on their way with a new coordinator and an active board of directors.
We are most excited to announce a new fundraiser!!
On Sunday, April 6 from 2pm-5pm, we will be hosting our first team Scrabble Tournament at The Senator Inn in Augusta!
Many Literacy Volunteer affiliates throughout the country use this popular board game as a fundraiser for their organization. In fact, the National Scrabble Association is very supportive of Proliteracy Worldwide, and has helped to raise well over a million dollars for our greater organization.
The format for our tournament will be one team of 4 individuals playing together from 1 letter tray against another 4-member team playing from another letter tray. Each table will have 2 teams, 1 Scrabble board, and one official timekeeper. There will be three 30 minute rounds, with a 15 minute break between games. And just in case of any disputes, we will have a couple of prominent judges with official Scrabble dictionaries to determine the validity of a word.
We hope to retain our wonderful business sponsors who have generously supported our Dessert Party in the past, to be “Double/Triple Letter” Sponsors” or “Double/Triple Word” Sponsors”. Each team will be required to solicit at least $40 in pledges in order to play. Of course, there will be lots of great prizes, not only for the game winners, but also for the person or team bringing in the most pledges.
Be watching for more information in January, meanwhile, practice up those word skills!
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All of us at Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta extend a very special Thank You to The United Way of Kennebec Valley. Without their support, we simply could not fulfill our mission. You too can donate to LV of Greater Augusta. Please use our convenient donation form [PDF], print it out and mail it with your check. Thank You!
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On October 20, we were very pleased to offer a tutor support workshop on Learning Disabilities in conjunction with our friends at Literacy Volunteers of Waterville. Harry Sylvester, author of Legacy of the Blue Heron, and his wife Janet, shared their personal experience and knowledge about learning disabilities with a most interested audience of tutors and guests at the Winslow Public Library. Marcia Cook, a member of the State Department of Education Adult Ed. Team and a specialist in adult learning disabilities, conducted several exercises which gave us all a taste of what it actually is like to have a learning disability. Marcia also came equipped with lots of great information on appropriate instruction for those with different types of learning disabilities. We have copies of all the handouts in the LVA office for any who missed the workshop and would like more information on this important tutor topic.
Special thanks to Harry and Janet Sylvester and to Marcia Cook for sharing their time and experience. We all truly enjoyed it!
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Seasons Greetings to Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta wishes all of you, Students, Tutors, Board and Training Members and our wonderful Funders a most Joyous Holiday Season. Thank you, to each one of you, for your contributions toward increasing literacy skills in our little corner of the world. |
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