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A basic tutor training workshop was held in June at the Winslow Public Library and was open to interested volunteers in both the Augusta and Waterville areas. Carla Gade (LV-Waterville Coordinator) assisted Jenny in the training as Carla prepares to become a certified trainer. The training was held over 4 weekday evenings, 5 to 8 p.m. Due to the shortened format, we included several on-line assignments for individuals to complete outside of class time. We will definitely have to tinker with this schedule if we choose to do it again!
Augusta has five new tutors with two tutors living in Vassalboro who are now working with the Augusta affiliate, and Waterville has six.
Welcome to our new tutors: Augusta: Susan Gross, Rhonda Dawson and Siobhan Kumm. Vassalboro: Bob Moment and Tracy Thompson. Waterville: Dianne Dawes, Dianne Hartle, Jean Bolduc, Holli Cederholm, Kathy Golden and Michael Moody.
Every year at Literacy Volunteers of Maine’s Annual meeting, a tutor and student pair from each affiliate is honored as a “Star in Literacy.” This year Jodi Williams and her student Susan were LV Augusta’s outstanding team.
Susan came to Augusta, Maine two years ago from Congo, Africa where the spoken language is French. She came to LVA to improve her literacy skills, especially communication that would help her with her job and in communicating with friends.
Susan spoke very little English when she and Jodi first met.You wouldn’t have known that when the two of them addressed the United Way of KV this spring to speak about their relationship and the accomplishments they have made in one short year. Susan spoke with clarity and confidence about her experience working with Jodi, touching everyone there with her pleasant personality and willingness to speak.
Jodi Williams grew up on a farm in Connecticut and moved to Maine five years ago to teach at the University of Maine at Augusta, a job she truly enjoys. She taught at Southern Connecticut State University for six years prior to moving to Maine and recently finished her PhD in information Science at Drexel University.
Upon completing the LVA Tutor training, Jodi became quite active in the Augusta affiliate. She was matched with Susan and according to Jodi, having fun together is as important as doing the hard work they do. They make a great team and there is always plenty of laughter during their meetings. Along with promoting LVA at the UW meeting, Jodi recently joined the LVA Board of Directors.
LVA congratulates this pair on their many achievements.
The spring tutor support workshop, led by Jen Small, was held on June 2 at our Augusta office. Participants all enjoyed the opportunity to get together, sharing ideas as well as individual successes and struggles with our students. The focus of the workshop was “Creative Lesson Planning” – a topic that tutors always appreciate. Ideas included incorporating Reader’s Theater and making plans for a special holiday as well as the many uses of real materials such as newspapers, phonebooks and restaurant menus. We also talked about ways to ensure that all four language components (listening, speaking, reading, writing) can be included in each lesson in order to make lessons more rounded and fun too.
If you missed the workshop and would like more information on this subject, call or email Gail and she will be happy to direct you to the resources used. Remember that our new reader’s library has many books, workbooks, games, newspapers (and “News for You”!) and other material to help you in your tutoring.
If you have any topics that you would be interested in hearing more about- or hearing about again, we would love to know that too! Recent topics have been: Home Safety, ESL, Learning Disabilities and Lexiles.
Here’s a web site you might want to check out - Storytelling and Conversation Games for Adults.
Lorraine Hopping Egan provides five free activities for beginners through advanced learners ranging from vocabulary and grammar skills to open-ended practice for conversational fluency. Visit HoppingFun.com and click on "Freebies" on the left side of the page.
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The 2nd Annual Community Fun Fair will take place at J & S Oil on Western Ave, Manchester, ME, September 26, 2009 from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm. The rain date is September 27th.
FUN for the whole family. Activities include Beanie Babies, Fast Pitch, Face Painting, Fairy House and Coloring, Raffle Ticket for NE Patriot Tickets, Cookie Walk and Bake Sale, and Unique Bird Houses for Raffle and For Sale. More info on the J&S Oil website
Proceeds will benefit a number of local area non-profits including
LV-Augusta.
Help support LV-A by attending the Fun Fair and by using the coupon below. J & S Oil will donate 50% of the sale to LV-A if you use the coupon!
Support Literacy Volunteers of Augusta when you use this coupon for your services at J&S Oil on the weekend of September 24- 26th.
Click on the coupon to get a full-sized one that you can print out and use!
| Premier Event: | Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:15 p.m. |
| Venue: | Hannaford Hall Abromson Community Education Center University of Southern Maine Bedford Street, Portland ME Directions |
| Program Headliner: |
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| Event Features: | Don Carrigan of NewsCenter 6 and 'handler' of Togus the Cat will be the Master of Ceremonies. |
| Tickets: | $25 for adults 18-64 |
Vicki Myron