December Literacy Leader - Joe Halvorson

After teaching English in China for a year, and really enjoying it, Joe Halvorson came back to Minnesota determined to help with literacy in his community. He is now a two-year volunteer at the Minnesota Literacy Council, tutoring mostly Computer Literacy classes at MLC Learning Center -Lake Street.

Joe understands that the digital world’s peculiar language and culture can be extremely daunting to newcomers. “People who grew up around computers take those skills for granted,” he says. “Using a keyboard and mouse is by no means instinctive – it takes a lot of practice and patience on the part of new learners.” Joe matches this practice and patience every Monday night.

Bailey Craft, ESL Teacher and Evening Volunteer Coordinator at Lake Street, has high praise for Joe’s style of instruction and level of engagement. “Joe is a patient and caring teacher,” she remarks. “He’s super invested in those he teaches, and students comment to me about his clear, accessible teaching style. When unexpected obstacles arise in class, Joe is pragmatic, thoughtful and calm.”

When asked how volunteering with adult literacy has impacted him, Joe cites, for one, an increase in his public-speaking skills. “Communicating complex tasks to beginners is a challenge,” he says. “You have to put yourself in their shoes and figure out the simplest and best explanation.” He also enjoys being “in touch with people from different cultures and backgrounds.”

The best thing about volunteering, though? Seeing progress in action. Although Joe will be leaving at the end of this year – and will be dearly missed by many – his legacy leaves a line of digitally self-empowered people, who now have access to countless opportunities, a giant boon to individual and community alike. “Computer literacy is a 21st century survival skill,” Joe asserts. “If you want to find out about school closures, keep up with events in the community, or stay competitive in the job market it is increasingly necessary to know how to use a computer.”

Thank you, Joe, for sharing and helping to articulate MLC’s vision. Your skill, dedication and compassion are deeply appreciated. You truly are a leader in literacy.

Joe Halvorson attended a MLC training, earned his tutor certificate and started changing people’s lives. He does it for a few hours a week. If you would like to volunteer with adult literacy—or with computer literacy—simply follow the links or email your questions to volunteer@themlc.org.

Another Success

The most recent Lake Street Center GED graduate, Chelsey Hicks, shared some observations with us now that she has completed her GED classes and all of her tests.

Chelsey was born in Tennessee but grew up mostly in Florida. She said that she didn’t like her high school very much, and that once she began seeking her GED she had some negative experiences with other programs. Until she came to the MLC Lake Street Learning Center, she felt pushed aside and unheard. She feels that the Lake Street Center has a very comfortable environment, better than any other place she has tried. At Lake Street, Chelsey has felt that she is a member of a team, that everyone is working together toward a goal, and that you can ask any questions you need to ask, they will always be answered.

While studying for her GED at Lake Street, Chelsey learned that she was good at taking tests and that she was smart. She was especially happy to get an educational assessment.

Chelsey advises other GED students to always come to class, even though there are days that you won’t feel like it. She also suggests that people make time after class to study. Lastly, she urges others to at least try for the GED scholarship. This was not something that she came in expecting to get, but she found it really useful, and gratifying to have received it without consciously trying for it.

Now that Chelsey has met this major goal, her plans are to continue her education. She has many more options now than she had before, and although she isn’t sure what she will study yet, she knows that now is no time to stop!

~Carol Wahl, GED Intern, Lake Street


The Minnesota Literacy Council is deeply committed to the success of students like Chelsey. If you would like to get involved with a similar program, opportunities abound. Several learning sites throughout the metro area are in need of GED tutors, including two on Franklin Avenue, one on Hennepin, two on Lake Street and more.  Visit themlc.org to learn more about locations and other volunteer positions.  Or email your questions to volunteer@themlc.org. 

Call for Community Tech Tutors

From Bing Images

Well-versed in the exquisite cyber arts? Enough to be dangerous? Help your neighbors improve their digital kung-fu by becoming a community technology tutor. 

As a community technology tutor, you’ll introduce new pupils to the basic styles and techniques of digital literacy: the potent way of the web-browser, the elegant power of broadband technology, the deadly speed of email, the furious efficiency and deep mysteries of word-processing software, and much more.  With your help, students will leave our program well-prepared to journey into the world wide web, using search engines, creating resumes and filling out online job applications with decisive, foe-crushing force.

There are many who lack the essential knowledge and skills to utilize new technologies.  Your tutelage can make all the difference.

I go in peace.


Not a techie? Find other ways to volunteer with adult literacy.  To learn more, follow the links or send your questions to volunteer@themlc.org.
 

October's Literacy Leader:

Elizabeth Burns

- Hubbs Center, St. Paul

Many adults in America experience the challenges of learning a new language and adjusting to a new culture, which can be extremely difficult - and terrifying. That’s why we’re lucky to have people like Elizabeth Burns, who volunteer and work to lessen those challenges and to quell some of the fears associated with them.

Elizabeth came to St. Paul’s Hubbs Center after meeting Ruth Rodriguez, the Hubbs Center’s volunteer coordinator, at a University of Minnesota volunteer fair. Over the past two years, she’s had amazing success as a volunteer classroom assistant. As a result of Elizabeth's excellent volunteer experience, she was offered a work-study position at the Hubbs Center (an off-campus work-study site through the University of Minnesota). Through her volunteering, she has been able to grow, take on new responsibilities, and help support her own educational goals, as well.

Last year, Elizabeth volunteered in Mary Pat’s ELL class. Mary Pat says, “[Elizabeth] enters our classroom with her charming smile and amazing personality, and the heart of every learner in the room is captivated…she has a unique, humorous, yet quiet style that promotes others to listen to her ideas and wisdom.” With such a dynamic teaching assistant, it’s little wonder that over the past months, dozens of learners in her classes have shown marked improvements in attendance, attention to work, and test scores.

In a typical evening, Elizabeth meets with the teacher before class to discuss and review the lesson plan. She greets students as they filter in. Conversations are struck, jokes told, and while everyone catches up on each other’s dealings and current events, Elizabeth edges the discussion into alignment with the lesson plan. After that, she circulates the classroom, answering questions and helping students individually as needed.

When we asked Elizabeth what she likes best about her volunteer work, she emphasized the relationships she’s built with learners and the joy she gets from their successes. She says, “I love coming in week after week and being able to tell that they have learned something and have effectively used their new conversation skills or interview skills.”

An exemplary adult literacy volunteer, Elizabeth has earned the respect and admiration of the students she serves and has inspired those she works with. “We all have an impact on each other’s lives,” she says. “I am so glad to be a part of their journey here at Hubbs.”

Outstanding Adult Learner

Abdillahi Mohamud:
Lake Street GED Graduate
& Scholarship Recipient

How do you feel now that you have your GED?

“I’m excited, delighted. I feel like it’s a milestone.”

When hard working volunteers in adult literacy meet hard working learners like Abdillahi, the results are undeniably good.
 
Abdillahi Mohamud was born and raised in Somalia, and came to the United States in September of 2010. Abdi enrolled in the MLC GED program in May 2011, and recently obtained his GED with help from the new MLC GED scholarship fund.

“The scholarship helped me a lot, and opened the door for future scholarships I may receive. It was my first one!” Receiving the scholarship was very important to Abdi, and he really appreciates the opportunity to receive such an honor.

Abdi has worked very hard for this accomplishment. With his incredible work ethic, diligence, and intelligence, he received an average score of 516 on all five GED tests! (The minimum passing average is 450.)

Abdi is currently applying to several colleges and universities to continue his education. While he is undecided as to what his major will be, he said he is interested in Informational Technology and Business Management.
 

When asked what he learned throughout this experience of studying for his GED, he said, “It boosted my confidence. It made it easier for me to understand the way of learning here [in the U.S.]. It motivated me to go to college and get further education.”

Abdi would like to encourage those still studying for their GED to continue to become hard workers, to become strong, and to not be afraid of the GED process.

“There are a lot of people out there who don’t know where to start. Getting a GED will be the foundation. The Minnesota Literacy Council helps people do that.”

Abdi is the 3rd GED Graduate at Lake Street and the 1st Lake scholarship recipient!

Lindsey Cermak
GED Coordinator
Minnesota Literacy Council

37.1

That’s the percentage of Twin-Cities-metro residents who volunteered their time in 2010, according to a study from the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The CNCS complied data from the U.S. Census and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that Twin Cities residents have retained their long-held status as national leaders in volunteering.

In her article, “Why Twin Cities residents volunteer more,” the Minnesota Post’s Cynthia Boyd found that volunteers save America billions, with last year’s efforts being valued at $2.2 billion for the Twin Cities alone, this according to officials from both the CNCS and the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration.  With the world’s economy on its heels and America reeling from nearly four years of recession, help is needed now more than ever.  Minnesotans understand that no contribution is too small.  Last year, some of us volunteered a handful of hours, others put in ten or twelve per week, some committed full-time to their respective causes, but  together, we lifted our community to the no.1 slot.

Mary Lynn Smith from the Star Tribune takes a good stab at the “why” in her article Twin Cities helping hands lead nation.  In it, she quotes Community Service corporation’s CEO, Robert Velasco, II, as well as the head of Lutheran Social Service, Mark Peterson, who attribute the results to both individual and institutional compassion.  We have high rates of education and home ownership, short commutes, a generous, civic-minded corporate environment, and a generally warm-hearted population that doesn’t mind baking the occasional pan of lasagna for a hungry family, or driving it over to them. 

Minnesota’s volunteers save billions of dollars in service costs, feed, educate, and provide counsel to their neighbors, and assist with daily needs and personal goals, sometimes helping in the realization of dreams. 

Volunteers, volunteer organizations, corporate sponsors, faith-based groups, and a wide, effective range of public programing and funding are what keep Minnesota’s legacy of fellowship and goodwill alive and active throughout our great state.  The Minnesota Literacy Council knows that adult basic education is vital to our continued success.  Adult basic education programs enrich the lives of Minnesotans and ratchet up the potential for economic growth.

If you can read this post, and know what a couple of billion means in relation to the state or national debt, and if you can get here (as you must have) via web, read and contextualize the data, assess the claims, follow the links and reach a conclusion, odds are you have a better chance of finding a job and supporting a family than someone who cannot read, or do basic math, or surf the web.  Speaking, reading and comprehending English; learning to use math and quantitative reasoning, computers and web-tools; preparing for a GED test; these are some of the things people can accomplish when they meet with a volunteer in community literacy.

I’m glad to have a role in MLC’s mission, and proud to live in a community where 37.1% of the people strive to connect with and strengthen other members.  Congratulations to all volunteers.  You address your convictions by taking action, and you deserve your community’s deepest thanks. 

Joe Conry

Volunteer Outreach Intern

August Literacy Leader

August Literacy Leader - Mike Hennessy

Five years ago, Mike Hennessy spotted an ad for ESL tutors in his local community education brochure. He answered. At the initial training, Mike learned of a high need for GED math tutors and offered to help in that arena instead. Since then he's been tutoring math at the Wayzata ABE program.

A couple of years after joining up, Mike met with another opportunity. He heard that IOCP (Interfaith Outreach Community Partners) needed more tutors in their computer lab. "I offered to help them," he writes, "and have been tutoring in the computer lab and teaching basic computer skills plus basic Word and Excel for over a year."

Once a week, Mike spends his morning helping students prepare for the GED--the math portions mostly, but he isn't shy to help in other subject areas when needed. He says that he prefers tutoring one-on-one because "it's easier to focus on what a student needs and build up their confidence one-on-one." With Mike's help, several adult learners have overcome their fear of math, some have passed the GED; others can now set up email accounts, apply for jobs online, use a word processor, and attach or post resumes.

When asked how volunteering has impacted him, Mike responds: "It's humbling when I see students pushing to get their GED while balancing kids, one or more jobs, in some cases learning English, and other day-to-day issues. I really want to help them succeed. Also I've had to re-learn some of the math, especially parts of algebra that I've forgotten over the years, so it keeps my mind working."

Cheryl Lubinski, Wayzata's ABE Coordinator, says that Mike is "a very active and versatile volunteer." She recalls last summer, when Mike drove a handful of students to their GED graduation ceremony, students who otherwise would have lacked the transportation. He caters his skills to different learning styles, and even works on call for students closing in on test day. In addition to his volunteer role at Wayzata ABE, Mike also volunteers with AARP to do free tax-preparation. Using this skill set, he has helped many of his students who needed this free service.

"Michael is a wonderful community volunteer," Cheryl writes. "He has the admiration and respect of the many individuals whose lives he has touched."

Thank you, Mike, for your amazing contributions.

 

 

Do you know an exceptional volunteer? Each month the Minnesota Literacy Council highlights a talented and enthusiastic adult literacy volunteer in Minnesota. To nominate someone you know, please contact Tricia at tbrooks@themlc.org.