12th Afternoon of Elegance

Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta (LV-A) is very pleased to report that the 2006 Dessert Party was the best yet, quite an accomplishment. We were most privileged to have Maine’s First Lady, Karen Baldacci, address the group. She expressed support of the work Literacy Volunteers do and spoke about her state wide literacy initiatives.

Gerry Boyle, this year’s guest author, kept the crowd engrossed with readings from his book Pretty Dead and graciously held a discussion on the process of writing a novel. Gerry also provided several copies of his books for the auction that he then personalized for the lucky high bidders. His book Potshot, the 4th in the Jack McMorrow series, is currently being made into a movie. How exciting.

The afternoon proceeded rather quickly as guests indulged in the usual delectable desserts and what a treat it always is to hear the wonderful music of the Pineland Suzuki School as led by Betsey Kobayashi. Several groups of Red Hat Ladies added their own vibrant color to the Senator Inn’s beautiful banquet room.

LV-A was very fortunate to have local radio personality, Don Brown, as host and auctioneer. Bidders had quite a selection of auction items this year including several signed books, a lovely bread & spread basket along with the centerpieces and a few whole desserts.

Our gratitude is sent to all of you who contributed to the great success of this event. (See a complete list on contributors.)

Dessert Party Photos

LV-A Welcomes
New Tutor Trainer

ProLiteracy America has accepted Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta recommendation of Jenny Small as our new Tutor Trainer. Jenny recently received her Tutor Certification after meeting all the requirements set forth by ProLiteracy America.

Along with providing the Spring tutor training workshop, Jenny also tutors a student and sits on the LV-A Board of Directors.

Thank you Jenny for all of your support of literacy issues in our area.

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ProLiteracy America Accreditation

The work to earn ProLiteracy American accreditation for LV-A is coming to a critical juncture. On May 22nd a representative of the ProLiteracy Accreditation team will visit the office for an important site review. Margaret Pfaff will meet with LV-A Coordinator Gail Dyer and members of the board to examine affiliate operations, practices and documentation.

ProLiteracy Accreditation assures LV-A students, volunteers and donors that our affiliate meets the high standards demanded for national accreditation.

The accreditation process involves a detailed review of all aspects of operation. Board members and Gail have been working on accreditation since the annual retreat last July. The process, which takes place every three years, provides an opportunity to evaluate the organization goals and objectives and align our work.

“We look forward to this visit,” Gail explained. “It will bring us to the end of a long, involved effort....or at least that is our hope!”

Margaret Pfaff will prepare a report following the visit explaining the results and identifying areas that require additional work. “We hope that is a short list!”

Bob McIntire

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What Literacy Means to Me 

I have been tutoring now, for quite a few years. It continues to be a most rewarding and challenging experience. It is such a great feeling to watch my student grow and learn new things. Sometimes there are difficulties but we get through them together. I have grown and learned new things as well. As a matter of fact, I think we, in many ways, teach one another. To me, literacy is not only learning but exploring new avenues of communication and methods of relating, person to person, friend to friend. I know that these skills are very important on the job and in the community as well. Literacy gives me a good feeling, a feeling that someone is benefiting from the time that I devote. Money cannot buy the good things that being a literacy tutor has blessed me with!

Josie Coogan, LV-A tutor since 1999

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Welcome New Tutors

We are most pleased to announce three newly trained, basic literacy tutors in the Greater Augusta area as well as three in the Waterville area. After an orientation on February 28, the 2-day training session was held on March 4th and 11th at Cony High School in Augusta. Trainer, Jenny Small led the group with the assistance of Michele Paradis, a former tutor for LV-A Thanks go to Michele and tutors Karen Roper and Jenny Smith for sharing their tutoring tales with us, and Jenny for also addressing the READ assessment process.

Our new tutors include:

Roberta Manter came to us from Fayette. She is passionate about her horses, offering riding lessons and therapeutic riding, and teaching adult education classes on horse care. She home-schooled her daughter and has a wonderful, creative way of presenting material.

Lois Thomas is from Randolph and has a teaching background. She taught in the Gardiner school system for many years and was also the assistant principal there. Her hobbies include perennial gardening, knitting, and reading. Her patience and gentle encouragement have surely made her a former favorite teacher of many young students.

Pam Arend is from Rome, Maine, and has also had some teaching experience with English as a Second Language (ESL). Pam also has lots of experience as program director for TV covering everything from producing her own videos, teaching media literacy, producing public service announcements and designing and constructing a video studio. Her strong organizational skills and flexibility will be great assets for teaching basic literacy.

We are very pleased to also include three wonderful women from the Waterville area in our Basic Tutor Workshop. Linda Higgins, Kim Pelletier and Judy Larson were very enthusiastic members of our spring class and we enjoyed working with them very much.

Congratulations to all our new tutors for doing an outstanding job in the workshop – we wish them well as they begin their adventure in tutoring with Literacy Volunteers!

Jenny Small

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A special Thank You goes to our Dessert Party Contributors

The Senator Inn and Spa

And to all of the wonderful volunteers who helped make this
our most successful event yet.

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The Open Book is published by Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta, Inc.
295 Water St., Suite 103, Augusta, ME 04330